Right Reads…Book reviews for babies, kids and teens

Joey Pigza is a “wired” young boy who suffers from attention-deficit-hyperactive-disorder (ADHD) but what’s interesting is that he’s actually the most normal person in his CRAZY family!

First, his parents are divorced but his erratic, reckless motorbike-riding father doesn’t seem to want to move on because he stalks his ex-wife and her new boyfriend frequently.

His mother is another crazy case – she’s so caught up with making it work out with her new boyfriend (another weirdo who is super calm and cool and snaps photographs of EVERYTHING), she doesn’t realize that Joey needs her attention.

Joey’s paternal grandmother is the best! She suffers from a chronic lung condition and is just about the nastiest, meanest, most foul-mouthed old lady you’d ever meet. And she smokes a pack of cigarettes a day and never fails to buy the lottery.

Ironically, this mean old lady is the one who loves Joey the most – she took care of him since he was a baby and ultimately knows him inside out. She also realizes that both of Joey’s parents are too caught up in their own selfish needs to be able to give him the attention, care and encouragement a special boy like him needs.

And she also knows that what Joey needs most is a friend and she tells Joey that she’ll only roll over and die when he finds one.

If you’ve ever been around children with ADHD, you’ll know that they NEVER sit still! Yup, they are so “wired” that they literally bounce off the walls. Joey’s ADHD is kept under control with medicinal patches and he’s even learned to snap on an extra one on days he’s especially S-T-R-E-S-S-E-D.

What’s sweet about Joey is that he grew up thinking he’s A PROBLEM that he goes around being Mr. Helpful – he goes to the supermarket to pick up and re-stack the fallen cans on every shelf for FREE! I thought the supermarket manager could have rewarded him with something in appreciation…

He also tries to be the best little boy for his mother who is always moaning and whining about her failed marriage and how she wants to make her new relationship work. The poor fella – imagine a child being an adult to an adult who acts like a child?

Finally, his mother takes him out of regular school (which he loves) and forces him into a homeschooling environment organized by an infinitely religious Christian neighbour with a blind daughter.

The homeschooling situation is the WORST of Joey’s problems because the blind girl is the total opposite of Joey – she’s extremely spoilt by her mother who feels guilty over her child’s blindness AND she is frustrated by her mother’s overprotectiveness and religiousness.

Because of this, she is DELIGHTED to prey on her ideal victim – the earnest and honest Joey It’s amazing the types of trouble she could get him into!

The book title actually comes from the girl’s mother’s rug at the door entrance = “WHAT WOULD JESUS DO?”. Every morning when Joey arrives at her doorstep for ’school’, she would ask: “What would Joey do?” You’ll laugh when you read his responses to her strange question.

However, Joey soon learns that he can use this to his own advantage…

What happens to Joey? Can he stay sane and save himself from his CRAZY family? You’ll have to read “What Would Joey Do?” yourself to find out. I guarantee you this book will keep you peeled to its pages right from the start!

Rating:

# Publisher: HarperCollins
# ISBN-10: 0060544031
# ISBN-13: 978-0060544034