Annotation: As a teen, Gantos is kicked out of school for drinking and turns to psychedelic drugs thinking they will make him a writer like Kerouac or Burroughs. In reality, his drug use leads him to become a smuggler of hash. He’s eventually caught and the second half of the book is a prison memoir that realistically records Gantos’ terror in prison and his rather miraculous resilience as a developing writer and a human being.
Justification for Nomination: Joey Pigza, the main character in several books by Gantos, is a kid who suffers from ADD and often finds his life to be out of control, as a consequence Joey is often in trouble. Joey isn’t a bad kid, in fact he’s quite likeable. But bad choices and bad luck can quickly place us in a bad spot. Yet just because we might sometimes do bad things or make mistakes it doesn’t mean we’re bad people. The worst times in our lives can also be the times through which we experience the most important growth. We can see how Gantos developed this theme of human fallibility and redemption in his own life experience in his autobiography Hole in My Life.
The story arc is pretty simple: Boy wanders a troubled path, gets in serious trouble, boy does time, boy’s life is turned around for the better. But what keeps it interesting is Gantos’ humor and keen attention to detail. There are moments of the book that read like a how-to guide for drug smuggling and although some might balk that teens might use the book for just that purpose, it’s a necessary element of the narrative. Just because something’s a true story doesn’t necessarily mean it possesses verisimilitude. Gantos’ frank discussion of the life he lead gains our confidence and arrests our attention. Sure he might detail how the hid a ton of hash (literally) on the small boat that traveled from Florida to New York but he doesn’t detail how one would actually go about getting a ton of hash to begin with. So although it feels like a how-to it’s really not. The plot is interesting (trilling and terrifying at times) but it’s the other details woven in that make reading this fully worth the effort. In particular I enjoyed how Gantos details his development as a writer. His interest in writing is commented on throughout the book. In fact his plan is to take this one diversion, smuggle the hash, earn a quick ten grand, use the money to go to Florida State and gain the experience he felt he needed so that he’d have something interesting to write about. His plan does give him an opportunity to write but not in the way he’d planned. He’s arrested and convicted to prison and here between the lines and in the margins of a prison library copy of The Brothers Karamazov he starts his first real journal and takes his first serious steps as a writer. Ultimately Gantos is a positive figure in this book but only marginally. This helps though in that he’s not some superman who’s falls to unimaginable depths and then soars to unmatchable heights. No, Gantos is someone who can speak to someone else struggling with real everyday teen issues like drug use or poor self-esteem, yet harboring a greater vision for him/herself, to show that problems can be debilitating but they don’t have to define who your are. John Lennon once said, “Life is what happens when you’re busy making other plans.” In most ways that is what this book is about and so it metaphorically becomes much more than just a story about crime.
Gantos indeed goes to a real prison but his story could stand as a metaphor for the many self-imposed prisons we create for ourselves. Gantos may not have mortared the bricks together for the prison that held him but he made his prison all the same. His actions (no one elses) separated him from his true desires. This could be equal to a teen dropping out of school, committing other crimes, falling into drug or alcohol abuse, just plain laziness or anything thing that comes between a teen and his/her potential. What works well for Gantos is that while highlighting the peril he finds himself in he’s also able to find enough points of light to continue on and manytimes he's suprized to find that the light comes from within. This story is less about doom and gloom than it is about assessing one’s situation and finding the way through. Compare this message to the cliché of the kid getting caught with some pot and the parent condemning him or her as “worthless.” How often do teens get a similar message after making a mistake – “do better or else!” Not only is this a burdensome yolk to bear every time you make a mistake it’s simply not true. We all make mistakes and some are 100% our fault stemming from personal desire, greed, vengance or whatever. It’s in dealing with these situations that we learn to better manage them and become better people. Sometimes the results will haunt us sometimes they’ll uplift us but either way mistakes can be indelible learning experiences and though I don’t condone running towards potential mistakes recklessly I also don’t condone condemning teens who slip while learning to navigate life’s complexities either.
Where I think this book will really connect with teens though is not necessarily through the themes of drug use, drug trafficking or the realistic prison experience offered in this book. The real connection is though Gantos himself who goes through many difficulties shared by many other teens. He lacks self-confidence largely because of severe acne flair ups especially when he’s stressed out (which, as you can image, happens often in this book). He smokes, drinks and does drugs to feel more adult, to feel like the writers he hopes to emulate and to escape the depressing world he often finds himself in. He’s lured into some shady deals but not to hurt anyone, just to make a little money. He’s forced to spend time in an institution before getting to live a free life of his choosing. Each of these elements reminded me of my own experiences growing up. Often the connections were indirect, I never had severe acne for example, but as all teens do I felt awkward and insecure about my appearance. In finding these indirect connections the book really opened up for me. I found it easy to relate to Gantos even though we’re very different people in most respects. In this way Hole in My Life has something for any reader to appreciate.
Genre of Catalog: Autobiography, Non Fiction, Prison Memoir, Printz Honors and Sibert Honors (2003)
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