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Summary
Summary
Just when Joey Pigza's wired world finally seems to be under control, his good-for-nothing dad pops back into his life. This time, though, Carter Pigza is a new man - literally. After a lucky lotto win, Carter Pigza has a crazy new outlook on life, and he's even changed his name to Charles Heinz. He thinks Joey and his mom should become new people, too. Soon Joey finds himself bombarded with changes: a new name, a new home, and a new family business - running the beat-up Beehive Diner. Heknows he should forgive his dad as his mom wants him to, and get with the new family program. But Joey is afraid that in changing names and going with the flow he will lose sight of who he really is.
In this rocket-paced new chapter in Joey Pigza's life, a favorite hero discovers what identity and forgiveness really mean, and how to cook a delicious turkey burger.
This title has Common Core connections.
Author Notes
Jack Gantos was born in Mount Pleasant, Pennsylvania on July 2, 1951. He received a BFA and a MA from Emerson College. While in college, he and an illustrator friend, Nicole Rubel, began working on picture books. After a series of rejections, they published their first book, Rotten Ralph, in 1976. His other books include Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key, a National Book Award Finalist, Joey Pigza Loses Control, a Newbery Honor book, and Dead End in Norvelt, which won the 2012 Newbery Medal. His memoir, Hole in My Life, won the Michael L. Printz and Robert F. Sibert Honors. Jack's follow-up to Hole in My Life is The Trouble in Me He also teaches courses in children's book writing and children's literature. He dev.eloped the master's degree program in children's book writing at Emerson College and the Vermont College M.F.A. program for children's book writers.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (5)
Publisher's Weekly Review
In suitably off-kilter fashion, this fourth installment in what had been previously called a trilogy finds the hyperactive hero reunited with Carter Pigza, his "no-good squinty-eyed bad dad." Having won a small fortune in the lottery, Carter's back to reclaim his role as family man. The hilarious "rewedding" vows-his "I forgive you for all the times you called me a lifelong loser" begets wife Fran's "I forgive you for trying to run me over with your motorcycle"-establish the theme for this episode in Joey's chaotic childhood: How do you forgive people for being who they are? Especially when who they are is an incredibly lousy parent? Carter, like Joey, is not a man of small gestures; in wiping the slate clean, he changes their names to Charles, Maria and Freddy Heinz, and moves the family to the country where he has bought a roadside diner to renovate and open as The Beehive. Naturally, things do not go according to plan. In one scene, Joey/Freddy plays in traffic in a bee costume to publicize the new restaurant and winds up in police custody. As in the other Joey Pigza books, the plot doesn't move so much as careen from one over-the-top event to the next, the achievement being that every one of them feels entirely plausible. Gantos exercises complete command of his subject-so thoroughly inside the dented head of his character that readers easily suspend disbelief. Another wild ride-over serious terrain. Ages 10-up. (Aug.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Horn Book Review
(Intermediate) What Would Joey Do? (rev. 11/02) was billed as the conclusion to a trilogy, so this fourth book is as unexpected as the events it chronicles. Joey's troubled father is back -- calling himself Charles Heinz, proselytizing about the power of positive thinking, and talking big about his moneymaking dreams (thanks to a modest lottery win). More unbelievable still, Joey's parents have reunited -- despite their toxic track record -- and are determined to drag skeptical, bemused Joey into their deluded plans. Worst of all, his mother (Maria Heinz, a.k.a. Fran Pigza) insists Joey embrace his new identity and, as Freddy Heinz, forgive his father for past wrongs. Joey Pigza would never absolve his father, but what would Freddy Heinz do? Joey, who remains a lovable antihero, struggles with this dilemma while trying to make the best of the doomed situation. This installment, however, relies more on caricature and frantic slapstick than on the nuanced character development and poignantly portrayed chaos that made earlier volumes so satisfying and funny. Readers new to Joey's world will find it more bizarre than tragicomic, but fans of the three previous adventures will forgive the missteps to spend more time with their favorite wired kid. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.
Booklist Review
*Starred Review* In this fourth installment of the Joey Pigza series, life becomes even more complicated for the wired sixth-grader when bad dad Carter and mom Fran reconcile and, in an attempt to start anew, reinvent themselves as the high-living Charles and Maria Heinz. Aided by a small pool of lottery winnings, hyperactive Charles dreams of success as the owner of a bee-themed diner and enlists the cooking and PR talents of Joey, whose schooling is quickly eschewed for an oversize bee costume and a sign advertising fast food. Joey struggles with forgiving Charles for their rocky past and embracing his new identity as Freddy Heinz, but it is the memory of his grandmother and news of a baby Heinz on the way that prompt him to accept his father and realize that the adults in his life may have just as much difficulty making the right choices as he does. Gantos' hilarious storytelling, including accounts of an over-the-top rewedding, an all-out paintball war between father and son, and a thwarted attempt at sneaking into an amusement park help soften the more serious issues at play in the story. Although the ending is heartbreaking, Joey, assuming his old identity, learns to let go of the past and dedicates himself to being a good role model for his new baby brother.--McKulski, Kristen Copyright 2007 Booklist
School Library Journal Review
Gr 5-7-In this latest installment (Farrar, Strauss 2007) in the series by Jack Gantos, Joey Pigza's life is turned upside down when his father comes back into the picture claiming to be a changed man, with a new nameACharles Heinz. Joey's dad recently won the lottery and is trying to use this new good karma to convince Joey and his mom to join him and become the Heinz family. With a series of humorous and poignant moments, Joey struggles with his new identity as Freddy Heinz, while trying to forgive his father for his past. Gantos treats listeners to a spot-on performance of Joey's scattered and adventurous life. The charming and, at times, whining tones of Gantos' vocal patterns are perfect for the spunky Joey, while at the same time clearly conveying the more adult voices in Joey's world. The pacing of the audio is consistently swift, keeping up with Joey's antics and his dad's sometimes maniacal scheming to gain more good karma, while frantically trying to select more winning lottery numbers rather than actually having to work. This enjoyable audiobook sill be a treat for school and public libraries.-Stephanie A. Squicciarini, Fairport Public Library, NY (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
Joey's father, Carter Pigza, is back in Joey's life. He's a new man with a new plan, even a new name: Charles Heinz, lottery winner and entrepreneur. Mrs. Pigza is now "Maria," not Fran, and Joey is "Freddy." New names, new identities, a chance to jettison the past and start over. But as craziness unfolds, Joey/Freddy begins to realize that "once you give up who you are, you can become anybody," but then how do you ever know who you really are? As Fran says, Maria was starting to feel "like a guest who wouldn't leave," and to Joey, "Freddy" is feeling like a lunatic. "I'm going crazy from not knowing who I am," he says. With this fourth installment in the series, Gantos offers it all: outrageous schemes, funny scenes, strong voice, dramatic characters and profound reflections on identity, family and love. It stands well on its own, though anyone new to Joey's saga will want to read more. This is Gantos at his best, and that's saying a lot. (Fiction. 10+) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Excerpts
Excerpts
From I Am Not Joey Pigza "I couldn't sleep the other night," Dad said, "and then I was stung with a brilliant idea!" Before I knew it I was dressed in a fuzzy black-and-yellow bee costume and standing out in front of the diner on the side of Highway 30. The head on the bee costume was so huge that Dad had to tape it to the bee body to keep it from falling off. I had a huge cardboard sign nailed to a stick, which I waved back and forth as cars passed. COMING SOON! BEEHIVE DINER FAST FOO Dad had run out of room on the sign, so there was no D on food. When I pointed that out to him he just tapped the side of his head and said slyly, "When people see the mistake it will make them look twice. One of the great rules of advertising is that there is no such thing as bad publicity." Below FOO he had written in smaller letters, No job? No money? Eat Thanksgiving dinner for free - noon to three! It seemed to me that a car would have to be creeping along at about two miles an hour to read our free invitation. "You drum up business," he had said, putting the sign in my hand. "I've got some new numbers to play. Then I'll make a food supply run and pick up your mom downtown." He got into the Heinzmobile. "And remember, hardworking little honeybees harvest good karma for the hive. See you later, bee-boy!" Excerpted from I Am Not Joey Pigza by Jack Gantos All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.
