Jack Gantos

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Jack Gantos (born July 2, 1951) (real name: John Bryan Gantos, Jr.) is an American author of children's books renowned for his portrayal of fictional Joey Pigza, a boy with ADHD. Gantos has won a number of awards, including the Newbery Honor, the Printz Honor, and the Sibert Honor from the American Library Association, and he has been a finalist for the National Book Award. His newest book, The Love Curse of the Rumbaughs (2006), deals with twins, eugenics, taxidermy (in particular, human taxidermy), and implicit incest.


Contents

[edit] Biography

Gantos was born in Mount Pleasant, Pennsylvania to son of construction superintendent John Gantos and banker Elizabeth (Weaver) Gantos. He served time in prison, as recounted in his book Hole in My Life. He received his BFA and his MA both from Emerson College. He married art dealer Anne A. Lower on November 11, 1989. The couple has one child, Mabel Grace.

[edit] Awards

  • Best Books for Young Readers citation, American Library Association (ALA), 1976-93, for the "Rotten Ralph" series
  • Children's Book Showcase Award, 1977, for Rotten Ralph
  • Emerson Alumni Award, Emerson College, 1979, for Outstanding Achievement in Creative Writing
  • Massachusetts Council for the Arts Awards finalist, 1983, 1988
  • Gold Key Honor Society Award, 1985, for Creative Excellence
  • National Endowment for the Arts grant, 1987
  • Quarterly West Novella Award, 1989, for X-Rays
  • Children's Choice citation, International Reading Association, 1990, for Rotten Ralph's Show and Tell
  • Batavia Educational Foundation grant, 1991
  • West Springfield Arts Council (WESPAC) grant, 1991
  • Parents' Choice citation, 1994, for Not So Rotten Ralph
  • New York Public Library Books for the Teenage, 1997, for Jack's Black Book
  • Silver Award, 1999, for Jack on the Tracks
  • Great Stone Face Award, Children's Librarians of New Hampshire, National Book Award finalist for Young People's Literature, ALA Notable Children's Book, NCSS and CBC Notable Children's Trade Book in the Field of Social Studies, School Library Journal Best Book of the Year, Riverbank Review Children's Book of Distinction, and New York Public Library "One Hundred Titles for Reading and Sharing," all 1999, Iowa Teen Award, Iowa Educational Media Association, Flicker Tale Children's Book Award nomination, North Dakota Library Association, and Sasquatch Award nomination, all 2000, all for Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key
  • Newbery Honor, ALA, 2001, for Joey Pigza Loses Control
  • National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship for Creative Writing, fiction
  • Printz Honors and Sibert Honors, both for Hole in My Life, both c. 2003

[edit] Books

  • Jack Henry series
  1. Jack on the Tracks: Four Seasons of fifth grade
  2. Heads or Tails: Stories from the sixth grade
  3. Jack's New Power: Stories from the Caribbean Year
  4. Jack's Black Book
  • Joey Pigza Series:
  1. Joey Pigza Swallowed The Key (1998)
  2. Joey Pigza Loses Control (2000)
  3. What Would Joey Do? (2003)
  • Other
  1. Hole in My Life (2004)
  2. The Love Curse of the Rumbaughs (2006)

[edit] References

  • Contemporary Authors Online, Gale, 2006. Reproduced in Biography Resource Center. Farmington Hills, Mich.: Thomson Gale. 2006.

[edit] External links


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