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permanme's review against another edition
funny
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Abandonment, Alcohol, Emotional abuse, Ableism, and Medical trauma
feline17ff's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
informative
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This was a ride. I don't know how accurate it is, but it did give me more empathy for people on the higher end of the hyperactivity spectrum, especially kids.
Joey lives with his grandmom at first, who also has hyperactivity of some form, but she's abusive sometimes.
His mom comes home and rescues him and gets rid of the grandmom. But near the end, we get more details of the abuse he went through, and it's infinitely harder to read than the beginning.
His mom is amazing and really strong. She stops chasing after her no-good husband (who also has some form of hyperactivity and grew up with the grandmom i.e. his mom, so I honestly don't know if it's all his fault or not) to come back to raise the child who missed her so much. She's very strong and is very patient. She does cry, but she's never bad to Joey iirc. The relationship between Joey and his mom is amazing and beautiful, and she's amazing. Never once is her single parenthood brought up, and the special education people and school staff are actually super nice.
I don't remember now but during one of the later chapters when things are looking up I actually smiled while reading at the dining table :)
At some point, he gets put into special education school and there's a few brief mentions of the kids there who have physical and/or mental disabilities, and he even makes friends (or at least 1) and it's sweet.
Joey lives with his grandmom at first, who also has hyperactivity of some form, but she's abusive sometimes.
His mom comes home and rescues him and gets rid of the grandmom. But near the end, we get more details of the abuse he went through, and it's infinitely harder to read than the beginning.
His mom is amazing and really strong. She stops chasing after her no-good husband (who also has some form of hyperactivity and grew up with the grandmom i.e. his mom, so I honestly don't know if it's all his fault or not) to come back to raise the child who missed her so much. She's very strong and is very patient. She does cry, but she's never bad to Joey iirc. The relationship between Joey and his mom is amazing and beautiful, and she's amazing. Never once is her single parenthood brought up, and the special education people and school staff are actually super nice.
I don't remember now but during one of the later chapters when things are looking up I actually smiled while reading at the dining table :)
At some point, he gets put into special education school and there's a few brief mentions of the kids there who have physical and/or mental disabilities, and he even makes friends (or at least 1) and it's sweet.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Domestic abuse, Child abuse, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Bullying
Minor: Excrement and Alcohol
There's description of the mostly mental abuse Joey's grandmom gave him. Which is incredibly tame at the start of the book, and then we have memories of maybe 2 incidents which are so difficult to read. 1 incident was pet whump and the 2nd was emotional gaslighting and emotional abuse. There's also a brief mention of a pet whump-ish bullying scenario earlier in the book, but it's glossed over. What is another big issue is a school incident where Joey accidentally hurts another student. The other student becomes permanent disfigure on the face.gem114's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key is an adorable middle-grade novel about a neurodiverse third grader who is struggling to learn to cope with his ADHD. I honestly think this novel should be required reading for teachers of all grade levels. I loved Joey, empathized with his mother, and was thankful for the educators and health professionals in his life who made him feel special and empowered him to learn to cope (with the help of medicine and self-regulation strategies) without feeling ashamed. Were all the adults in his novel perfect? Absolutely not, which is one of the reasons it's even more important for adults to read this book. I do also think it would be engaging for kids as well simply because of all the antics (both "fun" and dangerous) that Joey gets up to.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Abandonment, Blood, and Child abuse
Minor: Alcoholism
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