Jack Gantos

Light Hardcover (1 lb or less)

Ohio

Using Your Journal to Snoop Out and Craft Great Stories

Acclaimed author Jack Gantos's guide to becoming the best brilliant writer.

Writing Radar

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Engaging tale for young adults and old adults, too! A boy discovers more about his small town than he dreamed was possible. Time spent with a record-keeping local elder reveals adventure, history, humor, and mystery. Author J. Gantos is a Newbery Honor winner and National Book Award finalist. Like new! 341 pages. Size 6” by 8-1/2”.

Illinois

Dead End in Norvelt

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Light Paperback (1 lb or less)

Arizona

This rocket-paced follow-up to the Newbery Medal-winning novel Dead End in Norvelt opens deep in the shadow of the Cuban missile crisis. But instead of Russian warheads, other kinds of trouble are raining down on young Jack Gantos and his utopian town of Norvelt in western Pennsylvania. After an explosion, a new crime by an old murderer, and the sad passing of the town's founder, twelve-year-old Jack will soon find himself launched on a mission that takes him hundreds of miles away, escorting his slightly mental elderly mentor, Miss Volker, on her relentless pursuit of the oddest of outlaws. But as their trip turns south in more ways than one, it's increasingly clear that the farther from home they travel, the more off-the-wall Jack and Miss Volker's adventure becomes, in From Norvelt to Nowhere, a raucous road novel about roots and revenge, a last chance at love, and the power of a remarkable friendship.

A Publishers Weekly Best Children's Book of 2013

From Norvelt to Nowhere

South Carolina

A Rotten Ralph Rotten Reader

Rotten Ralph the cat's love of food from trash cans has given him an upset stomach, and it's up to Sarah to get him to understand his bad eating habits are to blame.

Rotten Ralph Feels Rotten

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Utah

Sequel to Joey Pigza Loses Control, a Newbery Honor Book

Are they flirting or fighting? This is Joey Pigza's question when the fireworks suddenly start to explode between his long-separated mom and dad, whom he's never really had a chance to see together. The more out of control his parents get, the less in control Joey feels and the more he wants to help make things better. But Joey's ailing tell-it-like-it-is grandmother wants her grandson to see it like it is with his unpredictable parents. Knowing that she is fading fast, she needs Joey to hurry up and show that he can break the Pigza family mold by making a friend in the outside world. The only potential candidate, however, is Olivia Lapp -- Joey's blind homeschooling partner, who brags that she is "blind as a brat" and acts meaner to Joey the more desperate he gets for her friendship -- even if Joey senses there's more to her than meets the eye.

In this dazzling episode, Jack Gantos's acclaimed hyperactive hero discovers that settling down isn't good for anything if he can't find a way to stop the people he cares about from winding him up all over again.

What Would Joey Do? is a 2003 Bank Street - Best Children's Book of the Year.

What Would Joey Do?

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Washington

From the Newbery Award-winning author of Dead End in Norvelt, this is a memoir about becoming a writer the hard way. A Printz Honor and Sibert Honor book.

In the summer of 1971, Jack Gantos was an aspiring writer looking for adventure, cash for college tuition, and a way out of a dead-end job. For ten thousand dollars, he recklessly agreed to help sail a sixty-foot yacht loaded with a ton of hashish from the Virgin Islands to New York City, where he and his partners sold the drug until federal agents caught up with them. For his part in the conspiracy, Gantos was sentenced to serve up to six years in prison.

In Hole in My Life, this prizewinning author of over thirty books for young people confronts the period of struggle and confinement that marked the end of his own youth. On the surface, the narrative tumbles from one crazed moment to the next as Gantos pieces together the story of his restless final year of high school, his short-lived career as a criminal, and his time in prison.

But running just beneath the action is the story of how Gantos--once he was locked up in a small, yellow-walled cell--moved from wanting to be a writer to writing, and how dedicating himself more fully to the thing he most wanted to do helped him endure and ultimately overcome the worst experience of his life.

This title has Common Core connections.

Jack Gantos is an award-winning and New York Times bestselling author of books for readers of all ages, including Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key, a National Book Award Finalist, and Joey Pigza Loses Control, a Newbery Honor book. His book The Trouble in Me is an autobiographical novel about a fourteen-year-old Jack Gantos, and his book Dead End in Novelt won the Newbery Medal, the Scott O'Dell Award for historical fiction.

Praise for Hole in My Life:

"A memoir, by turns harrowing and hilarious, about a huge mistake." --Miami Herald

"His account is remarkably free of both self-pity and self-censorship. . . . This is a tale of courage and redemption, proving that a bad start in life does not have to lead to a bad life story." --The New York Times Book Review

"Gantos really is Everyman, but an Everyman who has landed himself into a deeper pit than most. What separates Gantos is the determination that took him out of his dreams and into a successful life as a writer. Those writerly skills are in full evidence here, in this thoughtful and provocative memoir as valuable to those who have never heard of Gantos as to those who have read all of his books." --Hyde Park Review of Books

"The ultimate cautionary tale." --Smithsonian

"This true tale of the worst year in the author's life will be a big surprise for his many fans. . . .This is a story of mistakes, dues, redemption, and finally success at what he always wanted to do: write books." --Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review

Awards for Hole in My Life:
School Library Best Books of the Year
Books for the Teen Age, New York Public Library
Bank Street Best Children's Book of the Year
Michael L. Printz Award - Honor
ALA Best Books for Young Adults
NYPL Books for the Teen Age
ALA Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults
American Library Association Best Books for Young Adults
Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books Blue Ribbon Award
Massachusetts Children's Book Award
American Library Association Notable Children's Books
Horn Book Magazine Fanfare List
American Library Association Popular Paperbacks for Young Readers
Parents' Choice Award Winner
Robert F. Sibert Award - Honor
School Library Journal Best Books of the Year
ALA Notable Children's Books
Booklist Editors' Choice

Hole in My Life

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Willy's Raiders, who always play fair and square, prove the good guys always win when they go up for the championship against the Weasels, who resort to dirty tricks

Texas

Willy's Raiders - Vintage 1980

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Both are in fair condition. See photos. 2nd book had something spilt on it but pages are still readable 

Heavy Paperback (2 to 4 lbs)

Pennsylvania

Bundle of Dead End in Norvelt & From Norvelt To Nowhere 

Michigan

To the constant disappointment of his mother and his teachers, Joey has trouble paying attention or controlling his mood swings when his prescription medications wear off and he starts getting worked up and acting wired.

Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key

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Ralph, a very, very, nasty cat, finally sees the error of his ways--or does he?

Rotten Ralph

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Previous library copy in good condition . Vintage, printed 1997. ￼

Florida

Comic misadventures ensue when seventh-grader Jack tries to write the great American novel.

Jack's Black Book

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The sequel to Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key, a National Book Award Finalist When Joey Pigza meets his dad for the first time in years, he meets a grown-up version of his old out-of-control self. Carter Pigza is as wired as Joey used to be -- before his stint in special ed, and before he got his new meds. Joey's mom reluctantly agrees that he can stay with his dad for a summer visit, which sends Joey racing with sky-high hopes that he and Carter can finally get to know each other. But as the weeks whirl by, Carter has bigger plans in mind. He decides that just as he has pulled himself up by his own bootstraps, Joey can do the same and become as normal as any kid, without the help of a doctor's prescription. Carter believes Joey can do it and Joey wants to believe him more than anything in the world. Here is the continuation of Jack Gantos' acclaimed Joey Pigza story, affirming not only that Joey Pigza is a true original but that it runs in the family. This title has Common Core connections. Joey Pigza Loses Control is a 2000 New York Times Book Review Notable Children's Book of the Year and a 2001 Newbery Honor Book.

Joey Pigza Loses Control

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Nebraska

When she makes a shocking discovery in the basement of the Rumbaugh pharmacy, Ivy exposes the strange lives of Abner and Adolph Rumbaugh, who harbor a powerful and twisted love for their dead mother, and their family curse, which profoundly--and strangely--impacts Ivy and her own mother. 25,000 first printing.

The Love Curse of the Rumbaughs

65284d8d-09b5-4d90-9977-0489f2c6a85c-1

New Mexico

Mississippi

Massachusetts

Book series for kids. I have other books by this author available on my shelf.

New York

Just when Joey Pigza's wired world finally seems to be under control, his good-for-nothing dad pops back into his life. This time, though, Carter Pigza is a new man - literally. After a lucky lotto win, Carter Pigza has a crazy new outlook on life, and he's even changed his name to Charles Heinz. He thinks Joey and his mom should become new people, too. Soon Joey finds himself bombarded with changes: a new name, a new home, and a new family business - running the beat-up Beehive Diner. He knows he should forgive his dad as his mom wants him to, and get with the new family program. But in I Am Not Joey Pigza, Joey is afraid that in changing names and going with the flow he will lose sight of who he really is.

In Jack Gantos' rocket-paced new chapter in Joey Pigza's life, a favorite hero discovers what identity and forgiveness really mean, and how to cook a delicious turkey burger. This title has Common Core connections.

I Am Not Joey Pigza

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be0d677b-2ae3-4f47-9e50-74b888e9998f-1

Virginia

"They say I'm wired bad, or wired sad, but there's no doubt about it—I'm wired." Joey Pigza's got heart, he's got a mom who loves him, and he's got "dud meds," which is what he calls the Ritalin pills that are supposed to even out his wild mood swings. Sometimes Joey makes bad choices. He learns the hard way that he shouldn't stick his finger in the pencil sharpener, or swallow his house key, or run with scissors. Joey ends up bouncing around a lot - and eventually he bounces himself all the way downtown, into the district special-ed program, which could be the end of the line. As Joey knows, if he keeps making bad choices, he could just fall between the cracks for good. But he is determined not to let that happen. In this antic yet poignant new novel, Jack Gantos has perfect pitch in capturing the humor, the off-the-wall intensity, and the serious challenges that life presents to a kid dealing with hyper-activity and related disorders. This title has Common Core connections. Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key is a 1998 National Book Award Finalist for Young People's Literature.

In the historic town of Norvelt, Pennsylvania, twelve-year-old Jack Gantos spends the summer of 1962 grounded for various offenses until he is assigned to help an elderly neighbor with a most unusual chore involving the newly dead, molten wax, twiste

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Jack Gantos

Writing Radar

Jack Gantos

Dead End in Norvelt

Jack Gantos

From Norvelt to Nowhere

Jack Gantos

Rotten Ralph Feels Rotten

Jack Gantos

What Would Joey Do?

Jack Gantos

Hole in My Life

Jack Gantos

Willy's Raiders - Vintage 1980

Jack Gantos

Bundle of Dead End in Norvelt & From Norvelt To Nowhere

Jack Gantos

Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key

Jack Gantos

Rotten Ralph

Jack Gantos

Jack's Black Book

Jack Gantos

Joey Pigza Loses Control

Jack Gantos

The Love Curse of the Rumbaughs

Jack Gantos

Dead End in Norvelt

Jack Gantos

Hole in My Life

Jack Gantos

Dead End in Norvelt

Jack Gantos

Dead End in Norvelt

Jack Gantos

Hole in My Life

Jack Gantos

I Am Not Joey Pigza

Jack Gantos

From Norvelt to Nowhere

Jack Gantos

Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key

Jack Gantos

Dead End in Norvelt

Jack Gantos

Joey Pigza Loses Control

Jack Gantos

Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key