How to start over? Denial is not the way. ( )

Normally a fan of this series, I found that I've grown tired of poor Joey who has ADD and tries to hold everything together while his parents are purely immature with no sense of direction for themselves or Joey. In this book, Joey's near do well father returns. Again, claiming he has changed and is a new man. In order to note these changes he decides that the family should have a new last name.

A baby is born and Joey seems to be the only one barely holding it together when to make things worse, daddy skips out again and mommy decides she needs a break and leaves the baby in Joey's care.

It appears as though the author is writing comedy about serious situations that I don't find funny or humorous in any way.

Joey Pigza's parents are not only getting remarried, but they are changing their names and requiring that Joey does the same. They want to start anew after Joey's negligent dad won the lottery. This book explores family love and how it can stay strong in the hardest of times. Personally, I appreciated that this book presented a family that wasn't perfect, because it made the book much more relatable. One of the themes in this book was forgiving others, which is an important theme for children (and adults) to learn while making friends and building relationships. I was also happy to see that this book presents a boy with ADHD as the lead character. All in all, I would recommend this book to those who enjoy funny reads. ( )

Joey takes on a new identity as his family gets back together. A great listen as Jack Gantos reads it aloud.

I Am Not Joey Pigzaby Jack Gantos is the fourth, and so far, final of the Joey Pigza books. The others are Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key, Joey Pigza Loses Control and What Would Joey Do?

In this one, Joey wakes up in the hospital after a dare devil stunt involving the roof, a refrigerator box and himself, goes horribly wrong. Coming too he realizes to his horror that his good-for-nothing dad is back with a new name for himself, for Joey and Joey's mother.

Along with the new name comes a new home at a diner. While the diner could become something great, Joey quickly realizes that his parents are too distracted with their own lives to actually make the diner work. Without the diner, it's clear that their new reconciled lives can't last.

I happened to listen to the book as read by the author. Although Joey Pigza and his dysfunctional family took some getting used to, I was soon caught up into the story. I really felt for Joey as he struggled with the self identity issues that came with his new life. ( )