Monthly Review

5. Find out about the author. How did they end up writing this particular book? Is the author's true life reflected in the book in any way(s)?

The author that wrote Hole In My Life is Jack Gantos who was born in Mount Pleasant which is located in Pennsylvania. He started writing when he was very young and was inspired to write when his sister told him she could write better than he could. He started off writing about simple stuff that happened in his daily life. After going through elementary school and middle school, Jack completed high school and wanted to enroll in a school in Boston for his writing career. The only problem is that he didn't have enough money for college. He needed about 10000 dollars fast and an opportunity arose. He was to navigate a boat that was smuggling hashish or hash. He was caught and eventually sent to jail, but only had to serve 6 months to 6 years due to him being charged as a minor.

In jail, Jack vowed to turn his life around upon being released. This book is the story of his life in high school and up to him getting released from jail. It starts off a little backwards as it starts off with his life in jail. It then jumps to him talking with his dad about the people in the town and how he was surprised that his dad knew so much about everybody in the town but didn't know that Jack was going to be one of those troubled people he knew so much about. The story then jumps back to junior/senior year in high school for Jack and talks about how he never finished his junior year in high school so he is worried he might have to repeat it. When he and his family move to Puerto Rico, Jack can not enroll in a public school because he doesn't know how to speak Spanish. He can't enroll in private schools there because his family does not have enough money. He is forced to move to Florida and live on his own while he completes his senior year in high school. He moves in with a family friend of his dad. After treating the family and the house like crap, he gets kicked out that house and lives in his car for a few days before finding an ad for a motel room in the local paper. He goes to check it out and ends up renting the room as the rates weren't too bad for what he got in return. He received a moderately sized room and even had a maid come in and clean up for him. The owner of the motel and Jack actually developed a friendship after Jack lived there for many years which would actually come into play later in the story after Jack is caught smuggling.

I think Jack Gantos ended up writing this book because of his experience in jail and realized that he shouldn't have wasted his youth years like he had and he was trying to get his message out to this generation's youth. I am sure that jail is a life changing experience to even the toughest people that live in those cells, but only some have the ability to actually do something about their life. So when Jack got out of jail, I imagine he wanted to turn his life around immediately and did so.

He started writing children's books after his release. He also became a professor at the college he attended, Emerson college.

1. What was the author's purpose(s) in writing this book, and how can you tell? How well was this purpose achieved?

Like I said before, I think he wrote this book to educate people about his life and the trouble you can get into when you get desperate. He also wanted to educate the youth to not get involved in these kinds of things and be careful with who you get involved with.

I can tell this was his goal because of the amount of detail he goes into about what he actually did and the details of what happened to him. After reading some of those things, I don't ever want to do anything illegal and I don't know how anybody could, unless they were more desperate than he was. And after reading all the stuff he did, I don't know if you can even get as close as he did to pulling it off. The book took place in the 70's and let's face it, the security isn't what it is now, back then. So if he couldn't pull it off with the worse security back then, how could anyone expect to pull it off now a days? Yes, technology now work better at hiding things, but that technology works for both sides. So security is probably getting 2 times as strong while you think you are getting the upper hand.

Yes I think the purpose was achieved. Just read that last paragraph. Does it sound like I will be doing anything like what he was talking about anytime soon? So with me, yes he was very successful in his goal if that was, in fact, his goal for writing this book. If it isn't I don't know what he was trying to convey. So if his goal for writing this book was anything other than what I have said, it wasn't very successful. Maybe he should just say that that was his goal, and play if off if it wasn't.

All in all, I enjoyed this book, but not nearly as much as the last book my group and I read. That book was called Down These Mean Streets and I feel had more action front to back. So it made me want to just keep reading more and more. But that's not to say that I didn't enjoy this book at all. I did enjoy it as both are great books. This book is good if you feel like you need inspiration to live your life to the fullest and need that extra little nudge to convince you. So if you fall into that category, I strongly suggest you read this book.