Jack Gantos

Ralph the cat displays a truly rotten attitude in this hilarious picture-book from 1976, behaving atrociously to his loving human girl, Sarah, as well as to Sarah's parents and everyone and everything else he meets. Things come to a head when the family attend the circus, and Ralph's rotten antics ruin the experience for all. Fed up, Sarah's father marches his family out leaving Ralph behind. A period of living rough on the streets follows for our feline anti-hero, and Ralph learns to show more appreciate what he had in Sarah. When finally reunited with her, he has learned to be less rotten... sort of.

I had a copy of Rotten Ralph as a girl, as well as a few others about the misdeeds of this cantankerous cat, and I recall reading and enjoying it countless times. There was something so transgressive and humorous about Ralph, who was truly rotten, and only ever marginally reformed, and it tickled my funny bone. The heartwarming conclusion was so satisfying to the younger me, providing some reassurance that even those who misbehaved in spectacular ways could be loved. I undertook my current reread because I would like to track down some later entries in the series, and I thought I would revisit the origin of the character. I am glad I did, as not only was I reminded of one of my childhood favorites, but I gained a greater appreciation for the somewhat trippy, 70s-style illustrations from Nicole Rubel. Somehow, although Jack Gantos' story stuck with me, I don't have a strong memory of reacting one way or another to the artwork. Perhaps this is because it didn't then seem so distant, aesthetically speaking, as it does now.

In any case, this is one I would recommend to young cat lovers, and to picture-book readers who enjoy slightly less sweet stories. show less

It's Christmastime, and Rotten Ralph is up to no good, as usual. Although his little girl, Sarah, warns him that bad kitties might not get presents, our unrepentant feline anti-hero continues on his way, and when goody-two-shoes Percy joins the picture, things only get worse. Jealous of this other cat, Ralph does everything he can to undermine him, from pulling the ladder out from underneath him, while he is decorating the tree, to stealing his presents. Fortunately, Percy's sojourn is show more temporary, and Ralph is restored to his rightful place at the center of Sarah's world....

I owned a copy of author Jack Gantos and illustrator Nicole Rubel's Rotten Ralph as a girl, and I read it countless times, enjoying its tale of a thoroughly rotten cat—one with few redeeming characteristics, besides his love for his little girl. I don't recall reading any of the sequels when young, but am slowly getting to them now, as an adult. The second installment of the series, Worse Than Rotten, Ralph, sees our feline temporarily reformed, but here, in Rotten Ralph's Rotten Christmas, we see that any changes for the better were only temporary, and that Rotten Ralph lives up to his name. I found the deadpan humor here enjoyable—Sarah telling Ralph he is "not being very helpful," when he ties Percy to the railway tracks!—and the somewhat trippy vintage artwork fun. Recommended to fans of Rotten Ralph and his adventures. show less

As if Joey didn’t get into enough trouble in his unforgettable debut, Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key (1998), Gantos has him wig out again in this sad, scary, blackly funny sequel. His hyperactivity under control thanks to new meds, Joey is looking forward to a six-week stay with his father Carter, hoping for some bonding. Unfortunately, his mother’s warning: “. . . he can be, you know, wired like you, only he’s bigger.” understates the case. As a father, not to say a human being, show more Carter turns out to be appallingly dysfunctional: irresponsible, utterly self-centered, domineering, callous, and ominously short-fused. Smart enough to see through his father’s loud assertions that he’s turned over a new leaf, Joey nonetheless struggles to please, even when Carter flushes Joey’s medication down the toilet, insisting that real men only need willpower to solve their personal problems. Joey tries to tough it out, hoping (despite bitter experience) that this time he won’t go spinning off. Swept along by Joey’s breathless narrative, readers will share his horrified fascination as, bit by bit, he watches the bad old habits and behavior come back. Joey’s emphysemic Grandma, alternating drags on a cigarette with whiffs of oxygen as she trundles about the neighborhood in a shopping cart, and his Chihuahua Pablo, who survives both being locked in a glove compartment and having his ear pierced by a dart, provide the closest thing to comic relief here. The situation takes a dangerous turn when Joey eggs Carter into a wild rage; fortunately, his mother is just a phone call away, waiting in the wings to bail him out. Carter is truly frightening, a vision of what Joey could grow up to be, did he not possess the inner honesty to acknowledge his limitations (eventually), and caring adults to help him. A tragic tale in many ways, but a triumph too. (Fiction. 11-13)

-Kirkus Review show less

Melding the true and the fictional, Dead End in Norvelt is a novel about two months for a kid named Jack Gantos, whose plans for vacation excitement are shot down when he is "grounded for life" by his feuding parents, and whose nose spews blood at every little shock he gets.
But plenty of excitement (and shocks) are coming Jack's way once his mom loans him out to help a feisty old neighbor with a most unusual chore—typewriting obituaries filled with stories about the people who founded his show more Utopian town. As one obituary leads to another, Jack is launched on a strange adventure involving molten wax, Eleanor Roosevelt, twisted promises, a homemade airplane, Girl Scout cookies, a man on a trike, a dancing plague, voices from the past, Hells Angels . . . and possibly murder. show less