New Releases by Jack Gantos

Acclaimed author Jack Gantos''s guide to becoming the best brilliant writer.

Heroes and Villains, the seventh volume in Jon Scieszka’s Guys Read Library of Great Reading, is chock-full of adventure featuring an array of characters—with and without capes. Featuring ten all-new, original stories that run the gamut from fantasy to comics to contemporary adventure to nonfiction, and featuring eleven of the most acclaimed, exciting writers for kids working today, this collection is the perfect book for you, whether you use your powers for good—or evil. Authors include Laurie Halse Anderson, Cathy Camper and Raúl Gonzalez, Sharon Creech, Jack Gantos, Christopher Healy, Deborah Hopkinson, Ingrid Law, Pam Muñoz Ryan, Lemony Snicket, and Eugene Yelchin, with illustrations by Jeff Stokely.

This fiery autobiographical novel captures a pivotal week or two in the life of fourteen-year-old Jack Gantos, as the author reveals the moment he began to slide off track as a kid who in just a few years would find himself locked up in a federal penitentiary for the crimes portrayed in the memoir Hole in My Life. Set in the Fort Lauderdale neighborhood of his family''s latest rental home, The Trouble in Me opens with an explosive encounter in which Jack first meets his awesomely rebellious older neighbor, Gary Pagoda, just back from juvie for car theft. Instantly mesmerized, Jack decides he will do whatever it takes to be like Gary. As a follower, Jack is eager to leave his old self behind, and desperate for whatever crazy, hilarious, frightening thing might happen next. But he may not be as ready as he thinks when the trouble in him comes blazing to life. This title has Common Core connections.

The fifth and final book in the groundbreaking Joey Pigza series brings the beloved chronicle of this wired, wacky, and wonderful boy to a crescendo of chaos and craziness, as everything goes topsy-turvy for Joey just as he starts to get his feet on the ground. With his dad MIA in the wake of appearance-altering plastic surgery, Joey must give up school to look after his new baby brother and fill in for his mom, who hospitalizes herself to deal with a bad case of postpartum blues. As his challenges mount, Joey discovers a key that could unlock the secrets to his father''s whereabouts, a mystery that must be solved before Joey can even hope that his broken family might somehow come back together—if only it doesn''t pull him apart first. This title has Common Core connections.

"Ralph takes a swing through his family tree to find out why he''s so rotten"--

Young Jack accompanies Miss Volker on a wild pursuit of the chief suspect in the Norvelt murders, while being pursued themselves.

Melding the entirely true and the wildly fictional, this Newbery Medal winner chronicles an incredible two months for a kid named Jack Gantos, whose plans for vacation excitement are shot down when he is "grounded for life" by his parents. But plenty of excitement (and shocks) are coming Jack''s way once his mom loans him out to help a feisty old neighbor with a most unusual chore.

Sarah is working on a schol project about ancient Egypt. Will Rotten Ralp help out or just cause trouble?

Sequel to Joey Pigza Loses Control, a Newbery Honor Book Are they flirting or fighting? This is Joey Pigza''s question when the fireworks suddenly start to explode between his long-separated mom and dad, whom he''s never really had a chance to see together. The more out of control his parents get, the less in control Joey feels and the more he wants to help make things better. But Joey''s ailing tell-it-like-it-is grandmother wants her grandson to see it like it is with his unpredictable parents. Knowing that she is fading fast, she needs Joey to hurry up and show that he can break the Pigza family mold by making a friend in the outside world. The only potential candidate, however, is Olivia Lapp -- Joey''s blind homeschooling partner, who brags that she is "blind as a brat" and acts meaner to Joey the more desperate he gets for her friendship -- even if Joey senses there''s more to her than meets the eye. In this dazzling episode, Jack Gantos''s acclaimed hyperactive hero discovers that settling down isn''t good for anything if he can''t find a way to stop the people he cares about from winding him up all over again. This title has Common Core connections. What Would Joey Do? is a 2003 Bank Street - Best Children''s Book of the Year.

"They say I''m wired bad, or wired sad, but there''s no doubt about it -- I''m wired." Joey Pigza''s got heart, he''s got a mom who loves him, and he''s got "dud meds," which is what he calls the Ritalin pills that are supposed to even out his wild mood swings. Sometimes Joey makes bad choices. He learns the hard way that he shouldn''t stick his finger in the pencil sharpener, or swallow his house key, or run with scissors. Joey ends up bouncing around a lot - and eventually he bounces himself all the way downown, into the district special-ed program, which could be the end of the line. As Joey knows, if he keeps making bad choices, he could just fall between the cracks for good. But he is determined not to let that happen. In this antic yet poignant new novel, Jack Gantos has perfect pitch in capturing the humor, the off-the-wall intensity, and the serious challenges that life presents to a kid dealing with hyper-activity and related disorders. This title has Common Core connections. Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key is a 1998 National Book Award Finalist for Young People''s Literature.

The sequel to Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key, a National Book Award Finalist. When Joey Pigza meets his dad for the first time in years, he meets a grown-up version of his old out-of-control self. Carter Pigza is as wired as Joey used to be -- before his stint in special ed, and before he got his new meds. Joey''s mom reluctantly agrees that he can stay with his dad for a summer visit, which sends Joey racing with sky-high hopes that he and Carter can finally get to know each other. But as the weeks whirl by, Carter has bigger plans in mind. He decides that just as he has pulled himself up by his own bootstraps, Joey can do the same and become as normal as any kid, without the help of a doctor''s prescription. Carter believes Joey can do it and Joey wants to believe him more than anything in the world. Here is the continuation of the acclaimed Joey Pigza story, affirming not only that Joey Pigza is a true original but that it runs in the family. This title has Common Core connections. Joey Pigza Loses Control is a 2000 New York Times Book Review Notable Children''s Book of the Year and a 2001 Newbery Honor Book.

Jack isn’t like the Pagoda brothers. He knows the difference between fun and stupid. Launching yourself across the backyard in a makeshift Roman catapult? Fun. Smoking an entire pack of cigarettes as fast as possible? Stupid. But when it comes to emergency self-surgery…Jack still has something to learn. A short story from the acclaimed collection Guys Read: Funny Business, edited by Jon Scieszka.

From the Newbery Medal–winning author of Dead End in Norvelt, the uproarious final volume of Jack Henry stories According to his new motto—A WRITER''S JOB IS TO TURN HIS WORST EXPERIENCES INTO MONEY—Jack Gantos''s alter ego Jack Henry is going to be filty rich even before he gets out of junior high, for his life is filled with the worst experiences imaginable. For instance, in the course of the few months covered in this closing cycle of interlinked stories, Jack is humiliated by a gorgeous syncronized swimmer, gets a tattoo the size of an ant on his big toe, flubs an IQ test and nearly fails wood shop, and has to dig up his dead dog not once but twice. And that''s not the half of it! At the close of this final book of semi-autobiographical stories, Jack may not end up rolling in dough, but he will prove once again "a survivor, an ‘everyboy'' whose world may be wacko but whose heart and spirit are eminently sane" (School Library Journal). This title has Common Core connections.

When the veterinarian determines that Sarah''s cat has used up eight of his nine lives, will the high-spirited feline finally stop misbehaving?

On an unseasonably warm Easter Sunday, a young girl named Ivy discovers a chilling secret in the basement of the Rumbaugh pharmacy across the street from the hotel where she lives with her mother. The discovery reveals a disturbing side to the eccentric lives of family friends Abner and Adolph Rumbaugh, known throughout their small western Pennsylvania town simply as the Twins. It seems that Ab and Dolph have been compelled by a powerful mutual love for their deceased mother to do something extraordinary, something that in its own twisted way bridges the gap between the living and the dead. Immediately, Ivy''s discovery provokes the revelation of a Rumbaugh family curse, a curse that, as Ivy will learn over the coming years, holds a strange power over herself and her own mother. In his third book for young adults, Jack Gantos has scripted a completely original drama. With gothic flavor and black humor, he depicts a group of people bound together by love, compulsion . . . and a passion for taxidermy.

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. He knows 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.

When sixteen-year-old Walker gets caught up in a witch-hunt against homosexuals, he is left to stand by and watch as a tragedy unfolds.

From the Newbery Medal–winning author of Dead End in Norvelt, eight side-splitting stories about a boy who is doing his best to keep his head above water As the Henry family sets sail for a new life on Cape Hatteras, fourth-grader Jack is struggling to chart a course between his parents'' contradictory advice on making friends and influencing people. Just tell people what they want to hear, Dad advises. Just tell the truth, Mom cautions. Jack finds there are no easy answers as he drifts through his crazy school year, falling desperately in love with his young teacher, getting suckered into becoming a bad-behavior spy for the principal, and being forced to make a presentable pet out of a duck with backward feet. Indeed, with an airheaded, air-guitar-playing neighbor the closest thing to a friend, and a judgmental older sister his relentless enemy, it''s all he can do to stay afloat. This colorful and comic new collection of interrelated stories featuring the author''s hapless alter ego is the first of five books in the Jack Henry series, praised by Booklist for their "hilarious, exquisitely painful, and utterly on-target depiction" of a boy''s life. This title has Common Core connections.

For use in schools and libraries only. Joey, who is still taking medication to keep him from getting too wired, goes to spend the summer with the hard-drinking father he has never known, and tries to help the baseball team he coaches win the championship.

In this dazzling conclusion to the Joey Pigza trilogy, Gantos''s acclaimed hyperactive hero discovers that settling down isn''t good for anything if he can''t find a way to stop the people he cares about from winding him up all over again.

In this Michael L. Printz Honor Book, the Newbery Honor-winning creator of the Joey Pigza books shares the true story of how he became a writer the hard way by learning a valuable lesson while he was in college.

The character Rotten Ralph was created more than twenty years ago. Now the worlds most rotten cat and his friend, Sarah, set out again on a variety of capricious capers. In three brand-new boisterously entertaining stories, Rotten Ralph is sure to weasel his way into the hearts of another generation of readers. In Back to School for Rotten Ralph, summer is over, and Sarah cant wait to start school and make some new friendsother than her rotten cat, Ralph. But Ralph wants to be Sarahs only friend, and he won''t be left behind. When Sarah boards the school bus, he disguises himself as a student, follows her to class, and starts his scheme of sabotage. Ralphs plan works brilliantly until his true identity is revealed and the entire class wants to be friends with Sarah and Ralph!

A young hashish smuggler, befriended behind bars by an Elvis impersonator, struggles to survive the cruelties of prison life -- and of the freedom that follows.

From the Newbery Medal–winning author of Dead End in Norvelt, nine semi-autobiographical stories that will make you laugh so hard it hurts In Jack on the Tracks, fifth-grader Jack Henry is hoping for fresh adventure when he moves to a new home in Miami with his family, but he can''t escape his old worrying ways. He worries about being fascinated with all things gross and disgusting. He worries about his crazy French-obsessed schoolteacher. And most of all he worries about worrying so much. In this cycle of interrelated stories, there may be light at the end of the tunnel, if only Jack can get on the right track to survive his outrageous year. This title has Common Core connections.

Sarah''s high-spirited, poorly behaved cat, Ralph, disrupts her aunt''s wedding with his outlandish antics.

Santa Claus is coming to town and Rotten Ralph is determined to make a purr-fect impression.

When his father moves the family to Barbados, Jack learns that life is not always idyllic on an island paradise.

From the Newbery Medal–winning author of Dead End in Norvelt, eight more hysterical semi-autobiographical Jack Henry stories about a sixth grader''s trials and tribulations Jack''s life is a crazy roller-coaster ride. At his fifth school in six years, he has a crackpot teacher who won''t give him a break about his lousy handwriting and a secret crush who wants to be a policewoman. At home, he has a pesky little brother with a knack for getting hurt whenever Jack''s supposed to be looking after him, a terror for an older sister, all sorts of weird neighbors, and, last but not least, ferocious alligators in the canal behind his house. Writing in his diary about his good days and bad days is one way Jack survives his up-and-down year. But he''s also a kid who knows that life can go any which way at any given moment. He might as well flip a coin: heads he wins, tails he loses. What will turn up next? A Common Core title.

Rotten Ralph, the cat, is not at all nice to the Christmas visitor.