The Trouble in Me, Jack Gantos
The Trouble in Me, Jack Gantos
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The Trouble in Me

Author: Jack Gantos

Narrator: Jack Gantos

Unabridged: 4 hr 54 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 09/01/2015


Synopsis

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.

About Jack Gantos

Jack Gantos has written books for people of all ages, from picture books and middle-grade fiction to novels for young adults and adults. His works include Hole in My Life, a memoir that won the Michael L. Printz and Robert F. Sibert Honors, Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key, a National Book Award Finalist, and Joey Pigza Loses Control, a Newbery Honor book. Jack was born in Mount Pleasant, Pennsylvania, and when he was seven, his family moved to Barbados. He attended British schools, where there was much emphasis on reading and writing, and teachers made learning a lot of fun. When the family moved to south Florida, he found his new classmates uninterested in their studies, and his teachers spent most of their time disciplining students. Jack retreated to an abandoned bookmobile (three flat tires and empty of books) parked out behind the sandy ball field, and read for most of the day. The seeds for Jack’s writing career were planted in sixth grade, when he read his sister’s diary and decided he could write better than she could. He begged his mother for a diary and began to collect anecdotes he overheard at school, mostly from standing outside the teachers’ lounge and listening to their lunchtime conversations. Later, he incorporated many of these anecdotes into stories.  While in college, he and an illustrator friend, Nicole Rubel, began working on picture books. After a series of well-deserved rejections, they published their first book, Rotten Ralph, in 1976. It was a success and the beginning of Jack’s career as a professional writer. Jack continued to write children’s books and began to teach courses in children’s book writing and children’s literature. He developed 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. He now devotes his time to writing books and educational speaking. He lives with his family in Boston, Massachusetts.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Topo

Classic Gantos, I totally loved this - it is quite a wild ride with pyromania on almost every page. Oh, how a young man can be led astray. It's an incendiary roller coaster of a read with some of the craziest antics you could imagine . . . don't try this at home folks. But in the end, Jack's moral c......more

Goodreads review by Josiah

For all its occasional profanity and broaching of semi-adult themes, The Trouble in Me is Jack Gantos's middle-grade alternative to his 2002 teen memoir, Hole in My Life. It's at the high end of the middle-grade spectrum, but middle-grade nonetheless. Like the author's earlier memoir, The Trouble i......more

Goodreads review by Brenda

No one can tell a story like Jack Gantos. This novel is a prequel to his compelling memoir, A Hole in My Life, one of my favorite books. It takes place over a period of about a week or so as Jack comes under the thrall of the JD neighbor next door to the Gantos family's new rental. Readers will laug......more

Goodreads review by Rachael

This makes my heart hurt for Jack Gantos. No one matches that guy for unflinching emotional honesty.......more