Joey Pigza Loses Control

What if Joey Pigza were forced to spend the summer with his dad and his grandma? What if his dad took him off his meds? And what if Jack Gantos hadn't written this sequel? What if Listening Library hadn't decided to record it? What if Jack Gantos hadn't been asked to read it? What if? What if? What if? It's the question that fills Joey's head and spews from his mouth as he zips along the pothole-riddled highway with his mom on the way to spend an enforced summer vacation with his errant dad. With the same brilliance that characterized his reading of Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key, Gantos captures Joey's frantic pace, his breathless questioning, his terror at losing the control he has finally gained on medication. This sequel, more somber and chilling than the first volume, is a must-hear follow-up to the story of a boy we have all grown to love. T.B. Winner of AUDIOFILE Earphones Award (c) AudioFile 2001, Portland, Maine

February 25, 2002

In a starred review, PW
said, "Like its predecessor, Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key, this high-voltage, honest novel mixes humor, pain, fear and courage with deceptive ease." Ages 10-up.