Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key - April 22

The book I just finished is called "Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key" by Jack Gantos. This book made me feel bad for Joey and sometimes this book made me feel surprised. It was surprising when Joey changes a lot during the whole story and how as he changes he knows what to do to become a better person. A connection I had to this story is that when Joey was trying to become a better person, he also felt worried and scared because he thought he was a bad person. And in real life, sometimes that happens to me when I am trying to become better at something. This connection helped me understand this book more because it made me understand more about how the character felt. This is a just right book for me because it made me think a lot and it made me make a lot of connections.

Joey Pigza was a very wild person. He would always want to jump around and go wild. And during this book, he tries to control him self and become a better student and person. Joey's mom, another main character in this story, also really changed during the story. Because in the beginning of this story, she would always be worried about Joey and how he would be too wild sometimes. But through out the story, she becomes more calm about things.

The problem in this story was resolved when Joey knew he had to calm his self more and he knew he had to be more careful in doing things. He always listens to his mom and understands what she says to him. Before Joey didn't remember his mom when she came back after trying to look for Joey's dad. So that time when his mom was gone, he felt really lonely even if his grandma was there. One thing I would change about this book is instead of Joey's dad leaving, he would stay with Joey and his mom. I would like to change that because it must be really hard to stay with just with your grandma until your mom or dad would come back. I think the author's message is even if you think you are a bad person, you actually may be a good person at heart.