The Key That Swallowed Joey Pigza

The Key That Swallowed Joey Pigza

By Jack Gantos

7 ratings 9 reviews 13 followers
Book 5 of 5 in the  Joey Pigza Series
Interest LevelReading LevelReading A-ZATOSWord Count
Grades 4 - 8Grades 10 - 9n/a5.436453

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.

Publisher: Square Fish
ISBN-13: 9781250068071
ISBN-10: 125006807X
Published on 9/1/2015
Binding: Paperback
Number of pages: 176

Book Reviews (9)

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Melissa Hagberg Melissa Hagberg

I LOVE THIS BOOK!!!!! It is really fun. It is about a guy named Joey Pigza. He goes to school and later in the day, he gets called from is mom and goes home. His mom is sick and is afraid she will hurt Joey's brother (Carter Junior) so she goes to the hospital and has Joey stay home to take care of Carter Junior. Later Olivia ( Joey's old girlfriend) comes to his house because she got in trouble at school. She stays in Joey's house and help take care of Carter Junior. Later Joey's "Dad" tries to steal Carter Junior. He steals him but Joey gets it back because his "Dad" slipped and dropped it in the pool. On Joey's way home, he picks up the coins his "dad" loses and his "dad's" apartment key. When he slept he sucked the key the whole night and it turned brand new. His "Dad" kept coming and says that he wants Carter Junior. Finally, Joey goes to his "Dad's"house and says that the only way you can see Carter Junior is to Join the Family. Later, when Olivia left, his "Dad" joined the family and after Joey's mom came back from the hospital. I love it. It was a pretty short and easy read and on my favorite books.
Mrs. Williamson Mrs. Williamson

Poor Joey Pigza. He feels he is wired too tight and he ends up getting into a lot of trouble at school. What will happen to Joey next?
Ms. Mentink Ms. Mentink

This book will make you laugh! Joey is a fun-loving, 5th grader who wants to do well in school but his brain is wired differently. Joey finds himself getting into all kinds of trouble at school even being expelled. Read to find out if Joey is able to find a solution to keep him out of trouble.
happy210 happy210

This book was okay. It wasn't the best book, but it was still good.
sshans2 sshans2

This was also the first Joey Pigza book I read-- my thoughts exactly!
jjbee1979 jjbee1979

I never read any of the other Joey Pigza books, but I still understood what was going on. The author did a good job explaining everything that happened before. I liked Joey because he was a kid whose life was a lot like mine.
lsf1 lsf1

This is Joey Pigza, the kind of kooky boy who always seems to find himself in a bunch of madness. For most of you, this won't be an introduction because this is the fifth book in a series, but if you're like me and have never read any book in this series before, then this is you're first time meeting him. Before reading this book, I had read only one Jack Gantos book, "Dead End in Norvelt" and I did like it, but this book was kind of confusing and unbelievable for me and I got sort of bored with it. Joey Pigza's mom checks herself into the hospital and he has to look after his baby brother. But when he finds a key that might be able to show him where his dad is, he decides to solve the mystery. I personally would recommend this book if you read and liked the other Joey Pigza books. I'm wondering if not reading them affected how I liked this one.
sshans2 sshans2

This was also the first Joey Pigza book I read-- my thoughts exactly!
tim0706 tim0706

I LOVE THIS BOOK!!!!! It is really fun. It is about a guy named Joey Pigza. He goes to school and later in the day, he gets called from is mom and goes home. His mom is sick and is afraid she will hurt Joey's brother (Carter Junior) so she goes to the hospital and has Joey stay home to take care of Carter Junior. Later Olivia ( Joey's old girlfriend) comes to his house because she got in trouble at school. She stays in Joey's house and help take care of Carter Junior. Later Joey's "Dad" tries to steal Carter Junior. He steals him but Joey gets it back because his "Dad" slipped and dropped it in the pool. On Joey's way home, he picks up the coins his "dad" loses and his "dad's" apartment key. When he slept he sucked the key the whole night and it turned brand new. His "Dad" kept coming and says that he wants Carter Junior. Finally, Joey goes to his "Dad's"house and says that the only way you can see Carter Junior is to Join the Family. Later, when Olivia left, his "Dad" joined the family and after Joey's mom came back from the hospital. I love it. It was a pretty short and easy read and on my favorite books.
tim0706 tim0706

I want to read it so bad!!