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Audiobooks Narrated by Jack Gantos
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Newbery Award-winning author Jack Gantos shares advice for how to be the best brilliant writer in this funny and practical writing guide perfect for all kids who dream of seeing their name on the spine of a book.
With the signature wit and humor that have garnered him legions of fans, Gantos instructs young writers on using their "writing radar" to find story ideas in their own lives. Incorporating his own misadventures as a developing writer, Gantos inspires listeners to build confidence and establish good writing habits as they create and revise their stories. Pop-out text boxes highlight key tips, alongside Gantos's own illustrations, sample stories, and snippets from his childhood journals. More than just a how-to guide, Writing Radar is a celebration of the power of storytelling and an ode to the characters who-many unwittingly-inspired Gantos's own writing career.
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 rocket-paced follow-up to the Newbery Medal–winning novel Dead End in Norvelt opens deep in the shadow of the Cuban missile crisis. But instead of Russian warheads, other kinds of trouble are raining down on young Jack Gantos and his utopian town of Norvelt in western Pennsylvania. After an explosion, a new crime by an old murderer, and the sad passing of the town's founder, twelve-year-old Jack will soon find himself launched on a mission that takes him hundreds of miles away, escorting his slightly mental elderly mentor, Miss Volker, on her relentless pursuit of the oddest of outlaws. But as their trip turns south in more ways than one, it's increasingly clear that the farther from home they travel, the more off-the-wall Jack and Miss Volker's adventure becomes, in this raucous road novel about roots and revenge, a last chance at love, and the power of a remarkable friendship.
Winner of the John Newbery Metal for the best children's book of 2011.
Melding the entirely true and the wildly fictional, Dead End in Norvelt is a novel about an incredible two months for a kid named Jack Gantos, whose plans for vacation excitement are shot down when he is "grounded for life" by his feuding parents, and whose nose spews bad blood at every little shock he gets. But plenty of excitement (and shocks) are coming Jack's way once his mom loans him out to help a fiesty old neighbor with a most unusual chore—typewriting obituaries filled with stories about the people who founded his utopian town. As one obituary leads to another, Jack is launced on a strange adventure involving molten wax, Eleanor Roosevelt, twisted promises, a homemade airplane, Girl Scout cookies, a man on a trike, a dancing plague, voices from the past, Hells Angels . . . and possibly murder. Endlessly surprising, this sly, sharp-edged narrative is the author at his very best, making readers laugh out loud at the most unexpected things in a dead-funny depiction of growing up in a slightly off-kilter place where the past is present, the present is confusing, and the future is completely up in the air.
Joey Pigza can't sit still. He can't pay attention, he can't follow the rules, and he can't help it-especially when his meds aren't working. Joey's had problems ever since he was born, problems just like his dad and grandma have. And whether he's wreaking havoc on a class trip or swallowing his house key, Joey's problems are getting worse. In fact, his behavior is so off the wall that his teachers are threatening to send him to the special-ed center downtown.
Joey knows he's really a good kid, but no matter how hard he tries to do the right thing, something always seems to go wrong. Will he ever get anything right?
When the carnival comes to town, Ralph, Cousin Percy and Sarah can’t wait to go! Percy has been practicing his skills to win prizes, but Ralph thinks practicing is boring. He’ll find his own way to win and prove to Sarah that Percy doesn’t know everything. As usual, Ralph’s way gets him into trouble! Jack Gantos reads his spirited story, and listeners will delight in Ralph’s rotten-ness, as well as in his humbling lessons and ultimately, happy ending!
Sequel to Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key, National Book Award finalist
When Joey Pigza meets his dad for the first time in years, he meets a grown-up version of his old out-of-control self. Carter Pigza is as wired as Joey used to be-before his stint in special ed, and before he got his new meds.
Joey's mom reluctantly agrees that he can stay with his dad for a summer visit, which sends Joey racing with sky-high hpes that he and Carter can finally get to know each other. But as the weeks whirl by, Carter has bigger plans in mind: He decides that just as he has pulled himself up by his own bootstraps, Joey can do the same and become as normal as any kid, without the help of a doctor's prescription. Carter believes Joey can do it, and Joey wants to believe him more than anything in the world.
Here is the continuation of the acclaimed Joey Pigza story, affirming not only that Joey Pigza is a true original but that it runs in the family.
Rotten Ralph has his eyes on the prize for Best in Show at the cat show, but he's up against Perfect Percy, his overachieving cousin, so he lets Sarah help him get in shape. Lots of laughs, an interesting story line and endearing characters all add up to another Best in a Beginning Reader featuring Rotten Ralph!
I'm a brand-new man with a brand-new plan."
Joey Pigza is knocked for a loop when his good-for-nothing dad shows up on his doorstep as a recycled person. After a lucky lotto win, Carter Pigza truly believes he's somebody else. He's even renamed himself Charles Heinz-and he insists that Joey and his mother join his happy Heinz family plan.
"My head felt like it was full of bees, and they were busy in ways that were bad for me."
Joey has little choice but to embrace a head-spinning series of changes, which include having to leave school to help out at the beat-up roadside diner his dad has purchased. But Joey is afraid that in going with the flow he will go over the falls and end up in a place far away from who he really is.
In this seriously comic new novel, Jack Gantos pushes his acclaimed hero into entirely new territory, where he wrestles with issues of identity and forgiveness, and teaches himself how to triple-flip a turkey burger while shouting out his new favorite phrase . . .
"Do you want fries with that?
In this first in a series of Rotten Ralph readers, Jack Gantos reads his tale of the irrepressible cat with a penchant for disaster. When Ralph tries to help Sarah with her class project on ancient Egypt, he wreaks havoc first at the library and then continues his 'assistance' at home. As usual, Ralph overcomes his rotten-ness and ultimately rescues Sarah's project by dressing up as the Sphinx. In Practice makes Perfect for Rotten Ralph, when the carnival comes to town, Ralph, Cousin Percy and Sarah can't wait to go! Percy has been practicing his skills to win prizes, but Ralph thinks practicing is boring. He'll find his own way to win and prove to Sarah that Percy doesn't know everything. As usual, Ralph's way gets him into trouble! Jack Gantos reads his spirited story, and listeners will delight in Ralph's rotten-ness, as well as in his humbling lessons and ultimately, happy ending!
In this first in a series of Rotten Ralph readers, Jack Gantos reads his tale of the irrepressible cat with a penchant for disaster. When Ralph tries to help Sarah with her class project on ancient Egypt, he wreaks havoc first at the library and then continues his “assistance” at home. As usual, Ralph overcomes his rotten-ness and ultimately rescues Sarah’s project by dressing up as the Sphinx. Listeners will not only learn interesting tidbits about life in ancient Egypt, they’ll get an eye-full – and earful – of Rotten Ralph!
