Q&A with Jack Gantos
What took you so long to write this book?
I had written an adult novel, Zip Six, which was loosely based on some of my criminal activities and prison experiences. But it wasn't a memoir. It was largely fiction. The memoir came about not because I put off writing it but because I didn't have the itch to write it. What gave me the itch was just how much intolerance I see in society, which seems more intent on punishing teens for their mistakes than forgiving them and offering guidance. So much of what I hear in legal circles, in media, and in schools is that we are strongly advocating a "zero tolerance" policy, where if teens make a mistake they are drummed out of society. I find this sort of strident, unsympathetic response to teens sorting out right and wrong in a confusing world to be very destructive, because it is so unforgiving. And it causes teens to conclude that if they make one mistake they may as well wear a red A on their clothing and be forever shunned.
I wrote the book because I made mistakes, paid my dues, recovered, and moved on to succeed at what I had always wanted to do — write books. Believe me, after I made my mistakes I needed support and the warmth of human kindness, because I had already suffered a strong dose of punishment.
What reaction do you anticipate?
I've tried with considerable effort to anticipate reaction, but fail at doing so. I think the book is a straightforward story — sort of an adventure story really — with a violation-to-redemption personal journey. I suppose if people want to judge me entirely on this one incident, then I cannot change their minds. But I have always found that most good readers are broad-minded, since literature is full of stories where the main character overcomes some sort of personal adversity in order to persevere.
Are you concerned that Hole in My Life may reopen undesirable aspects of your past?
It won't personally. For instance, now that I've written the book I have not fallen into a pit of torturous memories where I am psychologically trapped in a time warp of hostile prison reveries. Perhaps some inmates who remember me from thirty years ago will look me up — in fact, there are a few I'd love to hear from (a condition of parole is that you never communicate with a known felon) — so some of the friendships I made in prison were not maintained once I was released. And I had many good friends in prison. Many were Quakers who refused to comply with the military draft. They were conscientious objectors, and among the finest people I had ever met. It saddened me greatly to meet dozens of conscientious objectors who were generally given five-year sentences. On the other hand, there are many, many guys who were very aggressive and brutal whom I would like never to see again. But somehow I figure they don't read too many books.
You say writing filled a hole in your life, and we know you've been keeping journals since you were in elementary school. What advice do you have for today's youth to help them begin this process of writing for personal growth?
Everyone finds their own way. But certainly young people need to be stimulated to begin the process of self-examination, and I find that reading good books with strong, thoughtful characters searching for answers is one way to pursue a reflective life. Add to this that writing in a journal each day allows as a person to articulate clearly what it is they see, what they feel and think, and to measure through words who they are and how they might define themselves, or discover themselves. Literature presents a world from many points of view, and as a result the reader who embraces diverse voices is in return made diverse. And isn't that the definition of personal growth?
The following is a list of "books that filled the hole" for Jack Gantos:
Go Ask Alice by Anonymous
Peter Pan by James M. Barrie
Artificial Paradise by Charles Baudelaire
An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge by Ambrose Bierce
This Way for the Gas, Ladies and Gentlemen by Tadeusz Borowski
The Delicate Prey by Paul Bowles
On the Yard by Malcolm Braly
Naked Lunch by William S. Burroughs
Papillon by Henri Charriere
Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane
Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe
The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
The House of the Dead by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
The Thief's Journal by Jean Genet
The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
The Odyssey by Homer
On the Road by Jack Kerouac
One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey
Martin Eden by Jack London
Billy Budd by Herman Melville
Mutiny on the Bounty by Charles Nordhoff and James N. Hall
The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson
Seven Long Times by Piri Thomas
The Car Thief by Theodore Weesner
The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams
A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams
Look Homeward, Angel by Thomas Wolfe
Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates
Reviews
Back to School for Rotten Ralph
Jack Gantos
Illustrated by Nicole Rubel
Rotten Ralph is worried that Sarah will forget about being his best friend when she starts school for the first time. Despite his sabotaging her dress and backpack, Sarah still catches the school bus on time. Then Ralph decides that the only thing he can do is pretend to be a school kid too. Sarah wants to make new friends at school. When Ralph is discovered as her cat, Sarah gains a whole classroom of friends. Rotten Ralph fans and children entering school for the first time will appreciate the anxiety and chuckle at Ralph's antics. 1998, HarperCollins, Ages 4 to 8, $14.95. Reviewer Wendy Pollock-Gilson
ISBN: 0-06-027531-6
The Christmas Spirit Strikes Rotten Ralph
Jack Gantos
Illustrated by Nicole Rubel
Rotten Ralph wants to make a great impression on Santa because he wants him to stop at his house first. As usual, Ralph does plenty to get himself into trouble, and the ever patient Sarah keeps reminding him that he needs to be good if he wants Santa to stop by. All of the mayhem and mishaps are revealed when the flaps are opened in this Christmas tale. 1998, HarperFestival, Ages 3 to 6, $6.95. Reviewer Marilyn Courtot
ISBN: 0-694-00986-5
Jack On The Tracks: Four Seasons of Fifth Grade
Jack Gantos
Yes! Jack is back-and as funny as ever. Based on the author's own childhood journals, this fourth book of Jack Henry stories is as hilarious as the first three. Be prepared for Jack telling tales of eating tapeworms, dropping cockroaches in his sister's mouth, and suffering through the unlucky deaths of multiple cats. Jack is cursed with the selected wisdom peculiar to fifth-grade boys-don't open the door to strangers, but do hop on a homemade water ski pulled by a car in a lightning storm. While Gantos comically salutes the sometimes gross and reckless nature of boys in tasteless ways that kids will love, he also weaves genuine insight and sensitivity into the larger, unspoken concerns that inhabit every child's head. Jack is trying hard to be responsible, to convince his older sister that he's mature, and to show his teacher that there's more to boys than snakes and snails. He fails miserably, of course, but his trying will warm readers' hearts (while turning their stomachs and attacking their funny bones). 1999, Farrar Straus and Giroux, Ages 8 to 12, $16.00. Reviewer Betty Hicks
ISBN: 0-374-33665-2
Jack's New Power: Stories from a Caribbean Year
Jack Gantos
Twelve year old Jack and his unconventional family have moved from Florida to Barbados, and he is anxious to fit in and make friends. Jack describes the adventures and mishaps of his Caribbean year in eight chapters that are linked by his first person, journal-writing perspective. Most episodes, whether they describe what it's like to be painted purple as a cure for blood poisoning or trying to catch a headless chicken, are a mixture of humor and horror. While not for the faint of heart, these colorful tales should appeal to those with a taste for gore, grossness and offbeat characters and situations. 1995, Farrar Straus Giroux, Ages 10 to 14, $16.00. Reviewer Gisela Jernigan
ISBN: 0-374-33657-1
ISBN: 0-374-33657-1
Joey Pigza Loses Control
Jack Gantos
In this National Book Award Finalist selection, Gantos introduces a young boy learning to cope with ADHD. Joey has medicine and strategies in this sequel, but he is still the same Joey. In the opening scene, he sets up living room pillows as targets, accidentally pierces his dog's ear, then solves the problem with a hoop earring. Soon after, Joey is off to live with his heavy-drinking, egocentric father for the first time. He is also living with his grandmother, who switches from crabby to cruel as quickly as she alternates smoking a cigarette and gulping fresh air from her oxygen machine. Readers will sympathize with Joey as his father rationalizes drinking, throws out Joey's medicine, and continually disappoints him. But none of these situations take away Joey's original retorts and comical, unique solutions to problems. Joey's biggest improvement may be his knowledge of self and how he applies it to better control his life. His wisdom and experience with failure show when he sizes up his grandmother. He knows she will always be her two selves-one nice and funny, and the other mean and scary. She will not change because she never feels that anything she does is wrong. All the changing is up to Joey, who says, "That was okay because I knew I could be wrong most of the time." Gantos' writing excellence shows in the way he allows the reader to draw conclusions, while Joey only experiences situations. Gantos still gives us what we love best about Joey-neither medicine nor a bad situation can take away his comic responses. This artist has created a satisfying follow-up. 2000, Farrar, Ages 10 up, $16.00. Reviewer Susie Wilde
ISBN: 0-374-39989-1
Joey Pigza Loses Control
Jack Gantos
Joey is determined to take control of his own life. In reconnecting with Carter, his absentee father, Joey secretly hopes to reunite his parents, but he finds that he can't really talk to his dad as the man never listens. Actually, he never closes his mouth. Facing some problems with alcohol, Carter figures that Joey can control his hyperactivity just as he did his alcoholism-cold turkey. He tosses out Joey's medication and goes to work, leaving the boy with his quirky chain-smoking grandma. Joey soon realizes that he is becoming his old wired self, and he tries desperately to be normal. Some of his antics will make you laugh out loud, but others are heart wrenching. Joey ends up playing on the baseball team his dad coaches and is a great pitcher. Unfortunately, he is unable to make new friends as his dad is always yelling at the players! Also, Carter is stressed over the baseball playoffs and seems to be losing control. He starts drinking again. After some wild escapades, Joey comes to the realization that it was "my mistakes that made me interesting and that perfect kids were more like mannequins." Adolescent readers will be absorbed with Joey's search to find himself, relate to his imperfections, and will perhaps find a message that will allow them to accept their own limitations. The plot is absorbing and thought-provoking. 2000, Farrar Straus and Giroux, Ages 10 to 14, $16.00. Reviewer Laura Hummel
ISBN: 0-374-39989-1
Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key
Jack Gantos
Joey Pigza is wired. Not just that, but he's got a wired streak in his family. Not just that, but he's heading for deeper and deeper trouble. He can't sit still. He does bizarre things that cross the border from funny to scary in the spin of a wrist. And he can't stop himself. But most of all, he can't figure out why life with the troubled mother he loves is so filled with "everyday sadness." Gantos takes the reader into the fractured world of the child with what we today call ADHD. Whose road to what we might call normalcy is rocky beyond imagining. The reader follows that road in this story, with Joey's direct, edgy, matter-of-fact voice as guide. Gritty, often disturbing, yet ending with a glimpse of the awesome resilience of this young protagonist. 1998, Farrar, Straus & Giroux, Ages 10 up, $16.00. Reviewer Uma Krishnaswami
ISBN: 0-374-33664-4
Rotten Ralph Helps Out
Jack Gantos
Pictures by Nicole Rubel
Readers will absorb a fair amount of information about ancient Egypt as they follow Sarah's research for a school project. Rude and rough Ralph is not impressed with Sarah's Egyptian study and makes sardonic comments to himself throughout the story. He makes a pyramid of books in the library and draws tomb art on the walls just to annoy the librarian and spoil Sarah's fun. But worse, he tries to apologize by helping Sarah with her projects and makes his usual mess. All is patched up, however, when Ralph makes himself up as the Sphinx and goes to school as Sarah's project. While Ralph never addresses Sarah directly, she seems to understands him enough to read his mind. On the last page, Ralph thinks, "I love candy" and Sarah answers, "I know you do"-perhaps a new depth for this friendship? This volume introduces a new series, one packaged in easy chapter book format rather than as a picture storybook format. Same cat, though, with the same semi-bad attitude, the same long-suffering friend and owner, and the same warm outcome. 2001, Farrar Straus and Giroux, Ages 5 to 8, $14.00. Reviewer Susan Hepler
ISBN: 0-374-36355-2
Interview provided by Farrar, Straus, & Giroux.
Added 2001
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