Hole in My Life by Jack Gantos

1.  BIBLIOGRAPHY

Gantos, Jack. 2002. HOLE IN MY LIFE. New York, NY. Farrar, Straus and Giroux Publishers. ISBN: 0374430896

2.  SUMMARY

Written by Gantos himself, this book tells of his teenage years just right before finishing high school. Gantos finds himself alone and without supervision which often places him in dangerous situations. The final act, that put him in prison, was smuggling hash from the Caribbean island of St. Croix up to the northern coast of the US to New York for ten thousand dollars in the summer of 1971. An aspiring writer at the time, Gantos shares with the reader one of the darkest times in his life.

3.  CRITICAL ANALYSIS

This memoir written by notable young adult author jack Gantos, takes a look at a few years into his troublesome youth. The account takes place in the summer of 1971. While Gantos sets up the back story about his growing up and family relocations, he emphasizes his desire to always wanting to be a writer and attend college. In his struggle to gather the funds needed for college, he offers to captain a boat from the Caribbean to the US East Coast to deliver and eventually sell hash in New York City. What seemed like an easy way to earn ten thousand dollars turned out to be one that dimmed his future. After being watched for weeks by federal agents, Gantos was arrested and placed in prison for his part in the illegal selling and distribution of a controlled substance. Publisher’s weekly reviewer writes,

“Knowing that the narrator is destined to land in jail keeps suspense at a high pitch, but this book's remarkable achievement is the multiple points of view that emerge, as experiences force a fledgling writer to continually revise his perspective of himself and the world around him”

The book then goes on to provide an in-depth look of the sensitive and intelligent boy residing behind a tough exterior. Due to his young age, being a first time offender and some fortunate luck, Gantos served 15 month in prison. The majority of it away from the normal inmate population as Gantos was able to talk his way into a job in the hospital wing of the prison.

Gantos simple writing as he writes about his life and the experiences he had can easily be understood and the ramifications of his actions are definitely felt by the reader. Gantos writes about prison life,

“From my cell window I could see a line of houses in the distance. All week the people had been putting up Halloween decorations. We didn't celebrate Halloween in prison . . . or, I should say, every day in prison was scarier than any Halloween, so there was no reason to do anything special on October 31st.”

Without having to go into an adult interpretation of prison life,readers get just enough information to signify that prison is a place they do not want to be. And if the thought of other inmates wasn’t enough of a detour, Gantos uses his descriptive writing to remind the readers that there is more to be concerned about in prison than just other inmates,

“The food in prison was a greasy diet of salted chicken gizzards in larded gravy, chicken wings with oily cheese sauce and deep-fried chicken necks.”

Gantos descriptions convey to the reader that one mistake can change a person’s life forever. As young adults are often faced with choices that can have impacts on their future as adults, A Hole in My Life provides a true account of making the right choices when faced with tough choices. The details are well written and the plot holds the readers interest. The use of the author’s mug shot on the cover lends to the severity of the topic matter and gives readers an idea of what they will be encountering within the pages.

From reading the memoir, you become familiar with how smart and bright the author was at the time and is today. You feel his passion for wanting to be a writer in his youth and understand his lack of guidance to get him in a place where his creativity could be developed. In the book Gantos states that he wanted to take a Creative Writing class but the prerequisite was that you must have all A’s to get in. As a teacher, I know that all A’s doesn’t mean you’re the brightest just as failing grades doesn’t mean your aren’t one of the brightest. Fortunately, Gantos never gave up on his dream to write and didn’t let his past set him back further.

Hole in my life is definitely for older young adult readers. With topics of drugs, sex and prison life I would place this in the high school level.

4. AWARDS/REVIEWS

American Library Association Best Books for Young Adults

American Library Association Notable Children's Books

American Library Association Popular Paperbacks for Young Readers

Michael L. Printz Award – Honor

Bank Street Best Children's Book of the Year

Books for the Teen Age, New York Public Library

Parents' Choice Award Winner

Booklist Editors' Choice

Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books Blue Ribbon Award; Horn Book Magazine Fanfare List

School Library Journal Best Books of the Year

Robert F. Sibert Award – Honor

Massachusetts Children's Book Award

KIRKUS STARRED review: "This true tale of the worst year in the author's life will be a big surprise for his many fans . . .This is a story of mistakes, dues, redemption, and finally success at what he always wanted to do: write books."

PUBLISHERS WEEKLY review: “After penning a number of novels for preteens, including the Joey Pigza books and the Jack series, Gantos makes a smooth transition as he addresses an older audience. He uses the same bold honesty found in his fiction to offer a riveting autobiographical account of his teen years and the events may well penetrate the comfort zone of even the most complacent young adults.”

5. CONNECTIONS

Author Web Site: www.jackgantos.com

Other Books by Jack Gantos:

The Jack Henry Books

Jack Adrift: Fourth Grade Without a Clue (2003)

Jack on the Tracks: Four Seasons of Fifth Grade (1999)

Jack's Black Book (1999)

Jack's New Power: Stories from a Caribbean Year (1995)

Heads or Tails: Stories from the Sixth Grade (1994)

The Joey Pigza Books

What Would Joey Do? (2002)

Joey Pigza Loses Control (2000)

Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key (1998)

The Rotten Ralph Rotten Readers

Practice Makes Perfect for Rotten Ralph (2002)

Rotten Ralph Helps Out (2001)

Young Adult

Desire Lines (1997)

Other Authors' Memoirs Geared for a Young Adult Audience:

Chris Crutcher, King of the Mild Frontier: an Ill-Advised Autobiography (2003)

Walter Dean Myers, Bad Boy: A Memoir (2002)

Lois Lowry, Looking Back: A Book of Memories (2000)

Madeleine L’Engle, Madeleine L’Engle Herself: Reflections on a Writing Life (2001)