A review by bookstobarbells
Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key by Jack Gantos

2.0

I loved that this book felt as if it was being told from inside the brain of a child with ADHD, but that was about all I liked about this book. It was too far over the top, had way too many deep seated issues that were never covered, and used medicine as a cover for handling most of life’s issues. I had to explain to the 12 year old boys I tutor that the mother is drinking alcohol, the father may be abusive, the grandma is emotionally abusive, and the doctors just causally mention it? Plus all of this is glossed over in every teaching material I found online and it instead covered how he was an outsider. I don’t think it dealt with any of the real pressing issues and instead made him seem like a crazy kooky kid who just needed meds. Super disappointing.