Joey Pigza Loses Control

Joey Pigza, the main character in Jack Gantos’s 2000 novel Joey Pigza Loses Control, personifies what Gantos believes is part of the problem with kids in school. The narrative is told in the first person, from Joey’s perspective, and picks up where Gantos’s previous book, Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key (1998), left off.

In the earlier book, Joey had begun taking a new slow-release medication patch for his ADHD. By the time of the events in Joey Pigza Loses Control, Joey has made quite a name for himself in school. In the moment, he does what seems like a bright idea at the time. Only after the fact does he begin to understand the consequences of some of his outlandish actions. However, Joey is not acting out by choice. He’s a well-mannered kid when hyperactivity isn’t getting in the way. Problem is, he has “no internal breaks.” He’s well aware of his problem; he just can’t control his actions when he’s in that particular zone.

The events of Joey Pigza Loses Control begin as Joey is en route to spend six weeks with his father, Carter Pigza. His mother is not thrilled that her son’s spending six weeks away from her care. This is perhaps because she indirectly blames her estranged husband for Joey’s predicament; though she doesn’t convey this to her son, Joey “can be, you know, wired like [Carter], only he’s bigger.” The fact that Joey’s father is an alcoholic doesn’t help matters any. But Joey is as eager to earn his father’s love as any son would be. He dismisses his mother’s concern, focusing instead on the time he will get to spend with his father.



Carter Pigza coaches the Police Athletic League baseball team, and he has the rather annoying habit of talking incessantly, rarely letting anyone else get a word in edgewise. Carter’s involvement with the league is penance, the result of his latest alcohol-related arrest, but he takes his role seriously. As a coach, he is relentless, scoffing at the slightest deviation from perfection. He is delighted to find that his son is a natural-born pitcher.

As the summer progresses, Carter begins to believe Joey should be treated like a regular kid, not like one with behavioral concerns. He is a bit surlier than usual, having taken up smoking and drinking again, but is convinced that Joey should be free from the meds that control his “wired-ness.” Carter explains this to the boy, saying, “You may not know it yet but the greatest gift I can give you is to take something away from you.” In the midst of this rant, Carter rounds up all of Joey’s medication and flushes it down the toilet.

In his own words, Joey tells the reader that he didn’t find his father’s antics at all amusing, especially not “when he flushed the tank and kept flushing it over and over.” Again, Joey is self-aware enough to realize that he will eventually revert back to the wired behavior he exhibited before he started taking the meds. It doesn’t take long for the symptoms of his ADHD to begin manifesting again, and it is this process of devolving that Gantos tells so plainly. Joey is overcome with hyperactivity and anxiety, and when he’s not consumed with trying to manage his condition, he focuses on desperately trying to please his father. His desire to please is evident both at home and on the baseball field. “All my life I’ve wanted to be a winner, and you’re the guy who can make that happen and be my little corner of perfection,” Carter says.



On top of the pressure of being his father’s star player, Joey must also learn to deal with his situation alone. He knows he cannot tell his mother, who would be upset to discover he’s no longer wearing his medication patch. But learning to cope also teaches Joey a valuable lesson. As he witnesses his father’s struggle with addiction while trying to manage his own problems, Joey finds not only himself, but his voice as well. From his father, Joey learns the importance of taking control of his circumstances. He learns that winning is important not just on the baseball field, but also in life.