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A review by librariandest
Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key by Jack Gantos
5.0
I'm just started listening to the audiobook (narrated by Gantos himself) with my almost-eight-year-old. She's finding it a little too scary because Joey is constantly hurting himself. I've read this book a few times (in 2006 and again in 2014) and always thought it was primarily funny (hilarious even), but seeing it through my daughter's eyes, I understand how it can be very intense for a young person.
I also just read the most-liked review of this book on goodreads. It's by an adult who gave it one star and said she found it disgusting. This seems to be because this book includes a sadly realistic portrayal of how a public school student with a disability from a low-income family was treated in 1998. It was too shocking and sad for her.
So both of these reactions (my child's and this adult goodreads reviewer's) are surprising to me. Maybe I went into this book with a bias because I know Jack Gantos as a funny author and speaker. Also a lot of 90s children's literature featured exaggerated reality (like [b:Maniac Magee|139463|Maniac Magee|Jerry Spinelli|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1395884800l/139463._SX50_.jpg|3264295] and [b:Frindle|439173|Frindle|Andrew Clements|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1344395824l/439173._SX50_.jpg|1993854]). So I think I was reacting to this book like someone who grew up in the 80s and 90s.
Anyway, if I keep listening to this book with my kid I'm going to have to do a lot of explaining about Special Education and ADHD and how writers of fiction create heightened worlds for comedic and dramatic effect. I'm already used to this because she loves Beverly Cleary's books and those have a ton of historical/unbelievable things she needs context to understand. I actually don't think of this as a negative, but kind of the whole point of reading. Last year we read [b:Front Desk|36127488|Front Desk (Front Desk, #1)|Kelly Yang|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1507986199l/36127488._SX50_.jpg|51903030] which also had upsetting parts and it sparked some really great conversations about racism, economics, and unfair policing.
I also just read the most-liked review of this book on goodreads. It's by an adult who gave it one star and said she found it disgusting. This seems to be because this book includes a sadly realistic portrayal of how a public school student with a disability from a low-income family was treated in 1998. It was too shocking and sad for her.
So both of these reactions (my child's and this adult goodreads reviewer's) are surprising to me. Maybe I went into this book with a bias because I know Jack Gantos as a funny author and speaker. Also a lot of 90s children's literature featured exaggerated reality (like [b:Maniac Magee|139463|Maniac Magee|Jerry Spinelli|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1395884800l/139463._SX50_.jpg|3264295] and [b:Frindle|439173|Frindle|Andrew Clements|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1344395824l/439173._SX50_.jpg|1993854]). So I think I was reacting to this book like someone who grew up in the 80s and 90s.
Anyway, if I keep listening to this book with my kid I'm going to have to do a lot of explaining about Special Education and ADHD and how writers of fiction create heightened worlds for comedic and dramatic effect. I'm already used to this because she loves Beverly Cleary's books and those have a ton of historical/unbelievable things she needs context to understand. I actually don't think of this as a negative, but kind of the whole point of reading. Last year we read [b:Front Desk|36127488|Front Desk (Front Desk, #1)|Kelly Yang|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1507986199l/36127488._SX50_.jpg|51903030] which also had upsetting parts and it sparked some really great conversations about racism, economics, and unfair policing.