I read Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key to my 5th grade class every year and was wondering if your new book would be appropriate to read to ten year olds. I find some of the subject matter in Joey a little mature for them (especially all of mom's drinking) but they love all the trouble Joey gets himself into! Also, my ADD kids relate to Joey, but ask if the events happened. Can you answer this question for them?

Jack Gantos Hi. THE TROUBLE IN ME is not for 5th graders. The themes and language will be more meaningful to them as they mature. The JOEY books have a lot of difficult moments--in both action and emotion. As you said, they love all the action and trouble--but the emotional lives of the characters are very powerful and when discussed with students I find that is where the 'take-away' is from the series. Some of the action is funny and some is deplorable. The adults are very poor examples of supportive parents. They often have good intentions, but their follow-though is not entirely praiseworthy. As the series progresses from book one to book five the content is less about ADHD and far more about family dynamics. Some of those family dynamics make students squirm. Some students may recognize their own home lives within the Pigza household. My goal as the writer is to draw attention to what motivates the characters--their emotions, their values, their ethics, their morals--and how they make decisions for better or for worse. This makes for rich classroom discussion and challenges readers to articulate what they feel about all this mayhem.
You might also introduce them to the "Jack" books: my semi autobiographical stories. The 5th grade title is: JACK ON THE TRACKS. See how that works for them. Thank you, Jack

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