by Jack Gantos
I felt her roughly wiping my face while trying to get a clear look at my wound. “Oh, good grief,” she suddenly groaned, and flung her bloodied arms down to her side.
“What?” I asked desperately. “Am I too hurt to be fixed?”
“It’s just your nose problem!” she said, exasperated. “Your dang bloody nose!” Then she pressed the towel to my face again. “Hold it there tightly,” she instructed, “I’ll go get another one.”
She stomped back toward the house, and I sat there for a few torturous minutes with one hand pressing the towel against my nose and breathed deeply through my mouth. Even through the blood I could smell the flinty gunpowder from the bullet. Dad is going to kill me, I thought. He’ll court-martial me and sentence me to death by firing squad. Before I could fully imagine the tragic end of my life I heard an ambulance wailing up the Norvelt road. It took a turn directly into Miss Volker’s driveway and stopped. The driver jumped out and sprinted toward her house and jerked open the porch door.
That’s not good, I thought and turned cold all over.
READ ALL FOUR JOEY PIGZA BOOKS! AVAILABLE FROM SQUARE FISH
Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key
978-0-312-62355-5 $6.99 US / $7.99 Can
Joey Pigza’s “dud meds” are not controlling
his wild mood swings like they’re supposed to.
Is he going to end up stuck in the
special-ed program?
National Book Award Finalist!
I Am Not Joey Pigza
978-0-312-66100-7 $6.99 US / $7.99 Can
When Joey’s deadbeat dad wins the lottery,
he wants to change everything about the
Pigza family. But if he does, how will
Joey know who he really is?
Joey Pigza Loses Control
978-0-312-66101-4 $6.99 US / $7.99 Can
Joey Pigza finally has his behavior under
control when he visits his dad for the first time
in years. But can he keep it that way when his
dad cuts off his meds?
Newbery Honor Book!
What Would Joey Pigza Do?
978-0-312-66102-1 $6.99 US / $7.99 Can
Joey tries to make friends with the meanest
girl he knows, while his long-separated
parents suddenly start fighting—or
are theyflirting?
I AM NOT JOEY PIGZA. Copyright © 2007 by Jack Gantos.
All rights reserved. For information, address Square Fish, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010.
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Gantos, Jack.
I am not Joey Pigza / Jack Gantos.
p. cm.
Summary: Joey’s father returns, calling himself Charles Heinz and apologizing for his past bad behavior, and he swears that once Joey and his mother change their names and help him fix up the old diner he has bought, their lives will change for the better.
[1. Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder—Fiction. 2. Diners (Restaurants)—
Fiction. 3. Fathers—Fiction. 4. Lotteries—Fiction.
5. Identity—Fiction.] 1. Title.
PZ7.G15334In 2007
[Fic]—dc22
2006038681
The author would like to thank the Boston Athenaeum for its generous support during the writing of this book.
Originally published in the United States by Farrar Straus Giroux
First Square Fish Edition: September 2011
AR: 5.3 / LEXILE: 950L
