1. BibliographyGantos, Jack. 2000. Joey Pigza Loses Control. New York, NY: Farrar, Strauss and Giroux. ISBN 0374399891.
2. Plot Summary
In this book, Joey Pigza is a boy who has attention deficit disorder and is on medication for his condition. He lives with his mother and has not really known his father very well. His father decides that he wants to be part of Joey's life and have him for the summer. Joey's father is an alcoholic and decides to take Joey off of his medication. Joey and his father begin bonding over baseball, his dad coaches a team and Joey is a natural pitcher who ends up being a star player. By the end of the book Joey is spinning out of control without his medication and his mother has to come to get him back.
3. Critical Analysis
This book is written in the realistic genre. It is a very realistic story, one that the reader can actually believe happens all the time and might even have experience dealing with this condition. Gantos writes this story from the perspective of Joey which allows the reader into the mind of a child with ADD. The character of Joey and his mother have been through the process of breaking down and finding out that Joey needs medicine to function normally. This information is available to the reader through a constant dialogue that Joey has with the reader as he tells his story. Gantos endears the reader to Joey and even his father, even though they both have behavioral issues that one would normally think not worthy of being likable. The story is also told in a humorous way which allows the reader to process and deal with the disturbing situations that occur in Joey's life. The author is able to relate a situation in a child's life that is common to many others in a way that is engaging and makes the reader sympathetic to the condition.
4. Review Excerpts
Publisher's Weekly
"Like its predecessor, this high-voltage, honest novel mixes humor, pain, fear and courage with deceptive ease. Struggling to please everyone even as he sees himself hurtling toward disaster, Joey emerges as a sympathetic hero, and his heart of gold never loses its shine. "
Amazon.com
"Jack Gantos's second book about Joey Pigza is just as delightful and soulful as his first. Joey's attempts to keep the fragile peace in his life intact are touching, and his intense longing to just be normal will mirror the feelings of most preteens, whether they have ADD or not. Joey Pigza may sometimes lose control, but he never loses his heart. This is an exceptional sequel."
5. Connections
This is a great book for a read aloud because kids will find it funny. They will also be able to picture the story as it is read. This can also be an introduction to the topic of ADD, which affects many students.
This is also a great book for a bot who may be a reluctant reader, especially if he has a somewhat similar situation at home. It could be comforting to a student to realize that their problems are common.
1. BibliographyLowry, Lois. 1993. The Giver. New York, NY: Houghton Mifflin. ISBN 0440237688
2. Plot Summary
Lowry's book The Giver is about a boy named Jonas who lives in the future. This book is based in a time where a receiver holds all of the memories of the human race, both good and bad. The point is so that the people do not have to experience any pain that comes with loving others and with having pleasure taken away. Jonas is given the job of being the next receiver, thereby making the current one the Giver, so that everyone can continue living in the sameness. Eventually Jonas decides to leave with the baby Gabriel that his family has been taking care of and this is where the book ends, the reader interprets what they think will happen to them next.
3. Critical Analysis
Lois Lowry writes this fantasy book about the future from the perspective of a narrator. It is written in a way that explains events in Jonas's life in time order from just before his twelfth ceremony until some months later after he begins receiving memories. Lowry tells the story , it seems to provoke thought about the future and presents a way of life that is very controlled, where the general population doesn't have much say in their own lives. This raises the question about whether it is better to give up personal choices for the greater good or let the masses choose on their own.
4. Review Excerpts
From Publishers Weekly
"Winner of the 1994 Newbery Medal, this thought-provoking novel centers on a 12-year-old boy's gradual disillusionment with an outwardly utopian futuristic society; in a starred review, PW said, "Lowry is once again in top form... unwinding a tale fit for the most adventurous readers."
5. Connections
I think I would use this book with a high school class, I would read and compare The Giver to Aldous Huxley's, Brave New World. I think these two books raise some of the same questions.
1. BibliographyMyers, Walter Dean. 1999. Monster. New York, NY: Harper Collins Publishers. ISBN 0060280778
2. Summary
Steve Harmon is 16 and hanging out at the wrong place with the wrong people. The book begins with him describing what it is like to be in prison while his trial is going on. He is accused of being the look-out for a murder of a convenience store owner. The owner is shot by someone Steve knew from his neighborhood. Steve is a high school student interested in film making and decides to write the story of his ordeal out as a script. Steve is eventually found not guilty but remains unresolved about who he is and how he came to be in that situation in the first place and the occurrence costs him dearly in many ways.
3. Critical Analysis
Walter Dean Myers writes this book in the form of a screen play from the perspective of the main character, Steve Harmon. The print on the inside of the book is either a hand written looking font or a typed version of what all the characters are saying. The script is complete with the movements of the camera and a narration in between the dialogue.
Myers raises the question to the reader to decide whether Steve was just at the wrong place at the wrong time or whether he was an accomplice to the murder. The question is one that causes the reader to feel like a juror in the case as well. The book is suspenseful and very appealing to the young adult audience that it is geared toward. The character is a young adult himself, who is found in a serious situation that could easily happen to any person who is not being careful about the company they keep. The lesson for readers to take form this book should not be taken lightly, I believe that is why it is written in such a dramatic way.
4. Review Excerpts
School Library Journal
"Monster will challenge readers with difficult questions, to which there are no definitive answers. In some respects, the novel is reminiscent of Virginia Walter's Making Up Megaboy (DK Ink, 1998), another book enriched by its ambiguity. Like it, Monster lends itself well to classroom or group discussion. It's an emotionally charged story that readers will find compelling and disturbing."
5. Connections
This is an excellent book for Reader's Theater, I actually read this book with my 7th graders my first year in Austin ISD. It was very successful.
There is also an audio component to this book, which is another good way to read this book with students.
