I came across this book in my son’s school library...mind you, he’s in 5th grade. I started reading it to see if it was appropriate for him to read (it was definitely not) and ended up enjoying it myself. It was a good story I just felt it ended very abruptly. I’m not sure how quickly he wrote this after leaving prison but I expected a little more about his life after prison and it just wasn’t there. Glad I read it tho, and I’m REALLY glad my 10 year old did not ( )

When I knew I needed to read a biography (not my normal choice for reading) book for my class, I turned to a friend/librarian for some suggestions. She had but one: Hole in My Life IS the book you WILL read for this. I did what anyone who knows Geri would have done, I shut up and checked out the book!

At first I wondered why she wanted me to read this odd yellow covered book written way back in 2002 about a man I have never heard of. Now I know. Hole in My life is compelling and interesting. I felt as though I was with Newberry Award Winner Jack Gantos on his search for self. I crewed the ship from Florida to NY with him, and ran from the law. I felt the emotions: happiness, pain, sorrow, fear and so many more as he felt them.

This boy who always wanted to be a writer but felt as though he had nothing to write about, this smart kid with no self-esteem, this boy seeking to be a man but not understanding how; all of these things, these feelings, I understood. Here was a kid trying to find his place in the world. He didn't know what to do with the jumble of feelings, so he sought respite in drugs and alcohol. I found myself screaming at the book “don’t you SEE what you are doing to yourself???”

I found the description of his time in prison (15 months in the federal pen for smuggling hash) fascinating. So many things conspired to keep him safe and out of relative harm during his stay. His sentence could have gone so much worse.

I have visited Jack Gantos’ website (http://www.jackgantos.com/) and read numerous articles about him. He speaks with amazing candor about his youth and the problems he created/encountered. One of my favorite things I read was an interview with him on NPR. I have included the link below because I think it gives a sense of Jack Gantos’ personality and humor.

http://www.npr.org/2012/01/28/145998769/newbery-medal-winner-jack-gantos-plays-n... ( )

So far, my enjoyment of Hole in My Life has been bumpy. When I'm flowing along with the story, I'm suddenly hit with the most obscure reference that throws me off my reading groove. The sailing terms and the literary references have me flipping through the dictionary (and going to Wikipedia) a little more often than is comfortable. I hope the second half will be little more straightfoward.

7/23/08: I just got to the part where he was sentenced and sent to prison. What a straightforward and unflinching account. It's riveting and disturbing. A good read and a cautionary tale. ( )

teen/adult nonfiction; biography of a children's author/convicted felon. Drugs (or at least illegal drug trafficking) will ruin your life, and staying in school will help you get back out of jail... or something like that. ( )

This reads YA, but good YA. My son read a good deal of Gantos' work when he was a small child, and I always approved of those books. (I really did not limit my son's reading, but admittedly some was age-inappropriate and there is no question I liked some more than others. Gantos' children's books are really good.) Gantos' story is instructive and he does not miss an opportunity to really drive home his message. He does not pander, but he also does not depend on subtext. Side note: I kept wishing he would realize his father was a narcissistic asshole, but no luck. I think his life would have been better if he knew that. ( )