Joey Pigza Swallow The Key Summary

Joey Pigza is the main character in the book Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key. He happens to have Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, known as ADHD. The book is written from his point of view, so as the reader, it is interesting to know directly what Joey is thinking and feeling as different situations occur at home and school. Joey had to face some very difficult challenges at home that most people at his age would not typically face. His father left when he was young and his mother chased after him, so his grandmother raised him for a while. The book hints the idea that his parents were alcoholics. He describes his grandmother as crazy, meaning she has some diagnosable issues as well. She would get very angry with Joey and make him do
He typically is able to control himself in the mornings, but after lunch when his medication wears off, he has difficulty remaining still and focused. One day his teacher, Mrs. Maxy, let him sharpen pencils hoping it would release some of his energy, but that quickly took a turn to the worse. Joey finished sharpening the pencils and thought it would be a good idea to sharped his fingernails to make him look like a vampire. His fingers were bleeding and his fingernails were bent. The nurse told him that he would be okay, but the nail would fall off and a new one would grow back. Joey didn’t intentionally try to hurt himself, but he didn’t think through the consequences of his actions, instead he acted out of impulse. Several incidents in the book, Joey, without completely thinking through the situation, would do something that ended up hurting himself or somebody else
The scissors he was using were not getting the job done, so he thought of using Mrs. Maxy’s scissors because they were sharper. He got so excited that after he picked them up, he began to run back to his craft across the room. He tripped on his shoe and fell, but in the process cut off the tip of Maria’s nose. This injury was server and she was picked up in an ambulance. Although it was an accident, this was the final straw for Joey. He was then forced to Lancaster County Special Education Center for six weeks because he was a harm to student’s safety. Although Joey did not want to go to Lancaster County Special Education Center, this allowed him an opportunity to be evaluated by doctors and specialist to help him with behavior issues and find the correct medicine and dosage for Joey to be successful in focusing. He had tests run and they discovered that there was not anything wrong with his brain, so they just adjusted his medication and nearly immediately he was improving. The individualized care he received here made a big difference in Joey’s