Hole In My Life

Hole In My Life

by JackGantos (Author)

Synopsis

Jack Gantos, bestselling author of the Joey Pigza books, had a peripatetic childhood around the US and the Caribbean. At 18 years old, he was doing a dead-end job on a Caribbean island, looking for adventure and a way to fund himself through university. When he was offered $10,000 to sail a boatload of drugs to New York, he jumped at it. It resulted in a year in a federal prison - and a lot of thinking time. In prison, Jack discovered the library where he was able to indulge his passion for literature and continue to write the journal he'd started in childhood. Denied a diary of his own by prison regulations, he wrote his notes in a tiny hand between the lines of a Russian novel. Becoming ever more determined to get to university, Jack discovered that he didn't have to let one bad choice map out the course of the rest of his life. There are such things as second chances. Paroled after a year in order to go directly to college to study writing, Jack had his first children's book published within two years of being released.

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More Information

Format: Paperback
Pages: 224
Edition: New
Publisher: Definitions (Young Adult)
Published: 06 Jan 2005

ISBN 10: 0099475871
ISBN 13: 9780099475873
Children’s book age: 12+ Years

Media Reviews
A memoir, by turns harrowing and hilarious, about a huge mistake. -- Miami Herald His account is remarkably free of both self-pity and self-censorship. . . . This is a tale of courage and redemption, proving that a bad start in life does not have to lead to a bad life story. -- The New York Times Book Review Gantos really is Everyman, but an Everyman who has landed himself into a deeper pit than most. What separates Gantos is the determination that took him out of his dreams and into a successful life as a writer. Those writerly skills are in full evidence here, in this thoughtful and provocative memoir as valuable to those who have never heard of Gantos as to those who have read all of his books. -- Hyde Park Review of Books The ultimate cautionary tale. -- Smithsonian 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. -- Kirkus Reviews , Starred Review
Author Bio
Jack Gantos is a popular American author, creator of the successful US picture books featuring Rotten Ralph. In his fiction for older children, he has a knack of expressing complex emotions in accessible and entertaining prose. Author lives: Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA