| Hole in My Life |  | Author: Jack Gantos
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)
Category: eBooks
In Stock
Rating:  55 reviews
Sales Rank: 71,656
Format: Kindle Book
Media: Kindle Edition
Edition: 1st
Reading Level: Young Adult
Pages: 208
Number Of Items: 1
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
Publication Date: April 1, 2007
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com Review
"I find myself moving like a knife, carving my way around people, cutting myself out of their picture and leaving nothing of myself behind but a hole." A gaping hole of misery is what popular young adult author Jack Gantos remembers when he thinks back to 1972, "the bleakest year of my life." Just 20 years old, Gantos was in a medium security prison for his participation in a get-rich-quick drug scam. Scared silly by the violence he saw around him daily, Gantos's only lifeline was a battered copy of The Brothers Karamazov, which he painstakingly turned into an impromptu journal by scratching his own thoughts into the tiny spaces between the lines. There, he recorded both his fears and his dream of someday writing a book of his own. Before prison, Gantos had penned a scattered myriad of journals, but had never been able to pull them together into a cohesive narrative. It was during his time behind bars that he found himself growing into a focused, diligent writer who eschewed drugs for the bigger high of watching his words fill the hole once and for all. Gantos, best known for his award-winning Joey Pigza titles, mines darker material here that is as deeply compelling as his lighter fare. Using short, meaty sentences, Gantos manages to write in a way that dismisses the dubious "romance" of prison, drugs, and "life on the edge" without ever sounding didactic or heavy-handed. Older teens will appreciate his candor and sheer willingness to give them the straight story. Vigorously recommended. (Ages 13 and older) --Jennifer Hubert
Product Description
In the summer of 1971, Jack Gantos was an aspiring young writer looking for adventure, cash for college tuition, and a way out of a dead-end job. For ten thousand dollars, he recklessly agreed to help sail a boat loaded with hashish from the Virgin Islands to New York City. But federal agents were waiting. Gantos was caught and, for his part in the conspiracy, sentenced to serve up to six years in prison.
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 55
 Hole in My Life February 24, 2010
cortezhill (San Diego, CA)
Jack Gantos has written the story of the 15 months he spent in prison in the early 70s and the events that led up to his incarceration for drug snugging. The book is divided into three parts: his life immediately before his smuggling adventure, his trip in a sailboat from the Caribbean to new York in a sailboat filled with drugs, and his time spent in a Federal Penitentiary. The first two parts of the book are mildly humorous and not entirely believable. The description of life in prison in the third part are horrific and should scare everyone to stay on the straight and narrow path.
a book of a man 's redemption ! February 8, 2010
S. Raimo (watervliet, NY, US)
i bought this book for my brother in prison but have'nt read it myself yet . i was told by another brother about this book and he highly recommended it ! it deals with a man who went thru hard times but found redemption ! i find that very inspiring ;having gone thru a similar experience in my recovery from a 9 yr drug abuse period and now have been sober since june 2004 ! praise God !
 High School Interest Level March 21, 2008
High School English/ELD Teacher (Northern California)
I have talked with my high school students about the fact that although there are defining moments in life, we should not let one moment define who we are for the rest of our lives. This is a great story to exemplify this point! Although drug use and sales are important components of the novel (and serve to attract the attention of adolescent readers), drugs are not glorified, which is an important point that parents and educators should be aware of if asked to defend this book choice. It can also be used for students to see how one author "found his voice" and became a writer. Interesting read that will hold the attention of even reluctant readers.
(= March 5, 2008
Umi (Santa Fe)
Jack Gantos' "Hole in My Life" is his autobiography and story of how he left his hometown to become a writer and ended up in a federal prison along the way.
His memoir is very well written and truthful. He describes very well his situation and the quirky characters he comes in contact with. He shows that the road to becoming a writer is rarely smooth and how spending time in jail, in fact, helped his writing career.
I recommend this book to anyone wanting the real story of a troubled kid that is both well written and meaningful.
the audio version is excellent January 18, 2008
Tag Finn (NEPA)
I came online to order this book. I just got this audio tape from the library and listened to it in the car with my "pre-teen" children. Its a great story and his delivery of the tale is funny and dry and compelling. He never gets preachy or plays the victim. We hated getting out of the car when we reached our destination because we needed to know how the story ended. I didn't get it as a "lesson" to my kids--I didn't even really know what it was about. But it turned out to be a great lesson and entertaining at the same time.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 55
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