Scan barcode
A review by allmadhere106
Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key by Jack Gantos
1.0
Joey has the problem of always being high stung and he can't seem to get himself to concentrate on anything. Lately, his attention disorder has been manifesting in ways where people get hurt and Joey must now go to a special school to figure out how he can improve. Joey must learn to change his behaviors, accept his home life, and he must also become accustomed to new medication.
I really didn't like this book. There was just a push for the child to constantly be medicated and the abusive homelife is hardly addressed in therapy. No one takes the time to explain to Joey that he isn't being punished, so he thinks that he's a bad kid that needs to be sent away. I learned that there are other books that are attached to this one--companion books or part of a series--and it's unclear if these issues are resolved in those installments. Either way, the professionals in his life should have explained things to him and the absence of that conversation still bothers me.
I really didn't like this book. There was just a push for the child to constantly be medicated and the abusive homelife is hardly addressed in therapy. No one takes the time to explain to Joey that he isn't being punished, so he thinks that he's a bad kid that needs to be sent away. I learned that there are other books that are attached to this one--companion books or part of a series--and it's unclear if these issues are resolved in those installments. Either way, the professionals in his life should have explained things to him and the absence of that conversation still bothers me.