What Would Joey Do?

by Jack Gantos

Book Overview

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.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0374399867
• ISBN13: 9780374399863
• Release Date: October 2002
• Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (Byr)
• Length: 240 Pages
• Weight: 0.94 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.7" x 8.5"
• Age Range: 10 to 14 years
• Grade Range: Grades 5 to 9

Customer Reviews

Best Book I have ever read!

I have read alot of books, but this is my all-time favorite. This book will make you laugh and cry. Once I started reading this book, I just couldn't put it down. It is both humorous and realistic at the same time. I know some people say that this book is inapropriate, but I don't see how.It is a great read for everyone, not just children. I will recommend this book to everyone! Don't listen to these people that say it sucks. So what are you waiting for? Go buy this book!!!!!

Excellent Way to conclude the Joey Pigza Trilogy!

Joey has Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). He can't focus, can't be understood by most, can't ease his tension, excitement, stress, and anxiety much at all. Joey lives with his alcoholic, trouble-filled mother and dying, smoking-fiend grandmother. Joey's father is out of the picture: his parents are divorced, and his father never was and will probably never be the father every dad should be. Occasionally, when Joey's mother and father do see or even exist in each others presence, conflict and violence break out almost instantaneously. Joey has gone through numerous schools, none ever working for him. Joey has two friends: his Chihuahua, Pablo, and a blind girl named Olivia, who is the only other student in his "school"- a devout Christian woman who teaches Joey and her daughter in her home. To just name a few examples, most can obliviously conclude on the apparent difficulties that lie in Joey Pigza's life, every single day. However, in the final book of the Joey Pigza trilogy, Joey goes up against all odds and shows the world his true character- not the dysfunctional outcast he appears to be, but the kind, positive, humble kid he actually is, with a helping hand and a heart of gold to all. With a "Mr. Helpful" label taped to his forehead and a smile on his face, Joey Pigza takes you through his last story in What Would Joey Do?. With more pressing issues arising and more problems being solved, Joey discovers real facts of life. In this final book, he tries his best to make himself the best person he can be- less of a problem-starter; more of a problem-solver. Not only does he help others, but he also realizes that he can and is able to make choices on his own; that he is responsible and mature enough, ADHD or no ADHD, to function and live like every other extraordinary person. What Would Joey Do? and the Joey Pigza trilogy is by far one of the best young-adult series I have ever read, and I would recommend it to anyone of any age who loves a great read on overcoming weaknesses and living life to the fullest.

one of the best books i read

this book will make you laff and cry.when you read the book be sure to read the 2 other books in the series.there some sad parts parts and hallarious parts.the reason i like this book is because it lets you know how things turned out at the end of the last book. i liked the first book best of all.READ THIS BOOK.

A engaging story told through the eyes of "Mr. Helpful."

When I first began reading this book, I was immmediately drawn in by the main character, a boy named Joey Pigza. Joey leads what appears to be a complicated childhood -- his parents are divorced & for a time his mother moved out and left him with his aging grandmother. Not only does his grandmother smoke too much, she speaks often of death and dying. Joey's only "friend" besides his dog, is a blind girl named Olivia who is always getting him into trouble. Joey's father doesn't make his life any easier -- he's constantly riding around the neighborhood on his motorcycle starting fights with his mother. Talk about a dysfunctional family! It's a wonder that Joey only needs a med patch for his hyperactivity disorder!* You would think that this is all too much for a kid to handle -- I do! But throughout the book, Joey manages to maintain strength and perserverance. Joey's qualitites include honesty and living life with a little humor. In his neverending quest to help others, Joey learns to help himself. MyParenTime.com recommends "What Would Joey Do?" - I couldn't wait to read more of Joey's antics and see how he survived his next crisis. Even if you haven't read the previous two books in this trilogy, you won't want to miss this one. *Caution: Parents should read up on this book so they can decide whether they feel it is appropriate for their child to read. Includes questionable behaviors, situations and medicating for hyperactivity disorder.

a hyperactive child's refreshing look at life

Dad is back in Lancaster, Pennsylvania causing problems for poor Joey Pigza, who worries that his dad Carter returned by roaring motorcycle to abduct him. However, he revises his theory to that of his father using him because he wants to either irritate or get close to Joey's mother. Joey's grandmother knows the world is coming to an end perhaps because of her emphysema, but more likely because Carter, who drives her nuts, is back.Due to the game of my kid is better, smarter, or whatever than your kid, Joey finds himself, at is mother's insistence, joining Olivia Lapp at home schooling. With the urging of his "dying" grandma, Joey tries to befriend the sight-challenged Olivia, but his bratty teammate just wants to keep him in trouble. Between her and his family, Joey learns why a dog is a boy's best friend and wonders if hyperactivity out of control is better than trying to relate to these normal maniacs.Apparently WHAT WOULD JOEY DO? is the final novel of the JP trilogy to the dismay of this reviewer because this tale, like its predecessors, is a refreshing look at life from the perspective of a preadolescent child coping with hyperactivity. The support cast is a distressing yet delightful group of lunatics, but the story line belongs to the title character, who makes reading fun. A personal plea to Mr. Gantos: please turn Joey into a teenager with hormones running amok because he is too good an individual to be shelved.Harriet Klausner