What Would Joey Do?

I like this book so much that words will not suffice to list all the reasons why.

I'll start by stating that anyone who scoffs at the YA genre might want to give this a try and see if you feel the same after you have finished the final page.

No stranger to awards, Jack Gantos received the Newbery honor for Joey Pigza Loses Control, the Newbery Medal for Dead in Norvelt the Printz Honor and the Sibert Honor for Hole In My Life and he was a National Book Award finalist for Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key.

What Would Joey Do is the third book in the series of ADHD pre-teen Joey Pigza.

Gantos has the unique ability to create a loving character who struggles to cope with his disability. While he now can control the level of his medications and has show more a keen sense of what triggers episodes, his parents continue to be crazy and out of control.

Longing for stability in an exceedingly unstable home life, Joey's loving, but somewhat erratic grandma is one of the few sources of sanity. Hiding behind a plastic shower curtain in the living room, she puffs cigarettes in equal measure to oxygen. Warning him that her end is near, she tells Joey he must find a friend.

When he is home schooled by the mother of a blind, nasty girl, he adopts her as his friend. In this religious atmosphere, he is asked daily "What would Jesus do?" Claiming this mantra for himself, Joey decides to do good and thus tries to live his life by "What would Joey do?"

As his insane, hyper neglectful father races throughout town in a beat up motor cycle trying to re-claim his son and x wife, Joey's mother spins further into violent episodes of rage.

This book is heart wrenchingly sad and also humorously, undeniably funny.

In the end, Joey realizes that what he must do is take care of himself because no one else will.

Here is a quote that resonates:

"Everyone had to wake up to somebody. Everyone had to wake up to themselves. And I was wondering who I might be if I didn't have the nutty family I had. And then I realized it didn't matter where I came from. It was where I was going that counted. And as long as I helped myself, I'd be going in the right direction."

Destined to be one of my top reads for 2012. show less

Joey's dad is in town and bent on winning Joey's mom back, mostly by tearing up and down the street in his motorcycle and the two having screaming arguments in front of the neighbors. Joey finds himself caught in the middle of not just his parents, but his mean homeschooling partner Olivia and her religious mother, and his grandmother's declarations of her impending death and his not wanting to lose her. Joey wants to help everyone be happy but in the end he sees that sometimes one has to help himself. An earnest voice, and a doozy of funny characters, including Grandma and Olivia.

This is the third installment in the Joey Pigza series, and it is equally as good as the first two. In fact, I loved this book even more because Joey really matures into such a caring young boy.

What Would Joey Do? by Jack Gantos begins with the return of Joey's immature and troubled father, Carter Pigza. Joey and his grandma are back living with his mother after the crazy summer he spent with his dad. Carter's return frustrates the whole family. Joey's mother, Fran, becomes violent. Joey is confused, and Grandma Pigza makes ominous prophecies about the future. In the meantime, Joey is now being homeschooled by a neighbor named Mrs. Lapp. Mrs. Lapp is a kind and religious woman who has a blind daughter named Olivia. Perhaps Olivia can show more become Joey's friend? After all, Grandma Pigza is desperate for Joey to make one friend before she passes away. However, trying to be friends with Olivia is almost like trying to befriend a snake!

A humorous and touching installment in the Joey Pigza series, What Would Joey Do? shows true growth in our beloved Joey. His ADHD is finally under control and because of his good fortune, Joey wants to help as many people as he possibly can. While seeing his father and mother bicker and his grandma's health suffer is troubling for Joey, he remains helpful, loving, and "totally Joey." GREAT BOOK, GREAT SERIES! show less

I liked this a lot better than the 2nd. Again, Joey again proves to be amazing while surrounded by incredibly selfish adults.

Joey tries to keep his life from degenerating into total chaos when his mother sends him to be home-schooled with a hostile blind girl, his divorced parents cannot stop fighting, and his grandmother is dying of emphysema.

In this satirical account of dysfunctional families and coming of age, Jack Gantos depicts the everyday life of Joey: a hyperactive pre-teenager, who living his Grandma and mother and their querks, is harrased by his deadbeat father, who just cannot leave them alone, as well as tormented by his blind home-school mate, Olivia, who has a vendetta against everything she comes into contact with. The book is the third of a trilogy, and although I have not read the previous two, I would imagine them to be just as entertaining. As the book progresses, Joey affirms himself with the title "helper," dubbed such by Olivia's mother, and rightly so, as his intention is to help others. The book, stock full of humor, cleverly conceived, depicts the show more characters with a flavorful touch of over-dramatization, which enlightens the reader to such a life of dysfunctionality. In the end, the story comes full circle, whereupon Joey matures, becoming more of a responsible agent. The story is about will, Joey's will, hence the title "What Would Joey Do," because it is up to him to keep his revolving world together. Highly recommended. show less

Joey's back, this time for the third and final book in the Joey Pigza trilogy. Joey tries to keep his life from collapsing into total chaos when his mother sends him to be home-schooled with a hostile blind girl (her nickname is Mistress of All Evil); his divorced parents cannot stop fighting; and his grandmother is dying of emphysema.