Joey Pigza

"Joey Pigza" is the main character in a series of children's books written by Jack Gantos. Joey suffers from Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Joey often struggles throughout the series with balancing his desire to be a good kid and his uncontrollable impulses.

This conflict is at the heart of the first book, as Joey gets into trouble at school and struggles with the situation at his home. His mother and father have divorced and left him to be raised by his grandmother. Joey's life improves when he is formally diagnosed with ADHD and is placed in special education classes at school. He also gets a chihuahua named Pablo and his mom confesses the reason that Joey has ADHD: She drank alcohol during her pregnancy.

However, when, in the second book, he moves in with his father for the summer, Joey's life is once again upended. His mom buys him a trumpet and a cassette of Herb Alpert so she can hear him play. During the process, he throws darts and pokes a hole in his dog's ear. After that, he goes to his dad's house and his dad is friendly to him. Joey's father feels that Joey is a good athlete and places him on a little league team. Additionally, against Joey's wishes, Joey's father has Joey stop taking his medicine for his ADHD, leading Joey to experience a downward spiral. As the book goes on, he attempts to cover himself in shaving cream like Dolores Erickson on the cover of Whipped Cream & Other Delights. He goes haywire after that incident and after he can't take it any longer, he goes AWOL at a baseball game and Leezy, his dad's girlfriend, lets him call his mom and his mom picks him up.

Life seems like it would be better for Joey when he leaves his father's home during the third book. However, he is home schooled with a blind girl, Olivia who proceeds to find ways to get Joey in trouble. Joey also struggles with the death of his grandmother. By the end of the novel, Joey and Olivia have started to become friends.

Gantos has stated that there will be a fourth book, after originally intending to stop the series at three.

In the book, Joey's parents ree-marry, and Joey's mother is pregnant again. She gives birth early due to soaking in a hot tub, and divorces again since Joey's father could not see his son's birth due to a plastic surgery failure. Apparently, Joey's parents were not truly in love.

The Series

#"Joey Pigza Swallowed The Key" (1998)
#"Joey Pigza Loses Control" (2000)
#"What Would Joey Do?" (2002)
#"I Am Not Joey Pigza" (2007)