Hole in My Life
"I find myself moving like a knife, carving my way around people,  cutting myself out of their picture and leaving nothing of myself behind but a  hole." A gaping hole of misery is what popular young adult author Jack Gantos  remembers when he thinks back to 1972, "the bleakest year of my life." Just 20  years old, Gantos was in a medium security prison for his participation in a  get-rich-quick drug scam. Scared silly by the violence he saw around him daily,  Gantos's only lifeline was a battered copy ofThe Brothers Karamazov,  which he painstakingly turned into an impromptu journal by scratching his own  thoughts into the tiny spaces between the lines. There, he recorded both his  fears and his dream of someday writing a book of his own. Before prison, Gantos  had penned a scattered myriad of journals, but had never been able to pull them  together into a cohesive narrative. It was during his time behind bars that he  found himself growing into a focused, diligent writer who eschewed drugs for the  bigger high of watching his words fill the hole once and for all.Gantos, best known for his award-winning Joey Pigza titles, mines darker  material here that is as deeply compelling as his lighter fare. Using short,  meaty sentences, Gantos manages to write in a way that dismisses the dubious  "romance" of prison, drugs, and "life on the edge" without ever sounding  didactic or heavy-handed. Older teens will appreciate his candor and sheer  willingness to give them the straight story. Vigorously recommended. (Ages 13  and older)--Jennifer Hubert--This text refers to theHardcoveredition.