Jack's Black Book (Jack Henry) - Hardcover

Gantos, Jack

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0374336628 ISBN 13: 9780374336622

Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR), 1997

Synopsis

An uproarious companion to Heads or Tails and Jack's New Power

According to his new motto - A WRITER'S JOB IS TO TURN HIS WORST EXPERIENCES INTO MONEY - Jack Henry is going to be filty rich even before he gets out of junior high, for his life is filled with the worst experiences imaginable. In the course of the few months covered in this cycle of interlinked stories, Jack is humiliated by a gorgeous syncronized swimmer, gets a tattoo the size of an ant on his big toe, flubs an IQ test and nearly fails wood shop, and has to dig up his dead dog not once but twice. And that's not the half of it. But, as The School Library Journal put it, Jack's "a survivor, an 'everyboy' whose world may be wacko but whose heart and spirit are eminently sane." Jack may not end up rolling in dough, but he, along with his humorously off-kilter familly, always keeps on trying.

About this title

About the Author

Jack Gantos is the author of three other books featuring Jack Henry (see pages 42--43) and, most recently, of Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key, a National Book Award finalist. He lives in Boston, Massachusetts, with his wife and daughter.

From Kirkus Reviews

Gantos trots out one disgusting and dangerous event after another to give his morose protagonist material for jokes, but the fun and games are edging over the top in this companion to Jack's New Power (1995). Jack wants to become a writer, but his familyunique but functioning in previous episodes and mere cartoons hereis united in a belief in his worthlessness. When the dog, BeauBeau III, breaks its neck and dies, Jack's sister, Betsy, is all wisecracks; on the trip to the vet, Jack's father suggests tying the dog to the car, like a dead deer, in case its bladder lets go (it's not the first time the dog's bodily functions are discussed). The parents are on vacation when Betsy, at home, sets a kitchen fire: ``We were screaming and laughing, but . . . we just managed to get the baby out [of the bassinet] before the blanket burst into flames.'' Away from home, the situation's no better: School is a former prison; the volunteer librarian bolts down books and accuses the boy of stealing; the cafeteria serves creamed chicken gizzards weekly. Crammed in are descriptions of digging up the dog Jack buries (twice), spit, broken teeth, head lumps, and more. With a mean-spirited reliance on shock and cheap laughs, the book gets some tacked-on introspection at the end: ``It was all about . . . what you wanted to become, and how much you love being yourself.'' (Fiction. 11-13) -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

About this edition

• Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)
• Publication date: 1997
• ISBN 10: 0374336628
• ISBN 13: 9780374336622
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 176