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Hole in My LifeFrom the Newbery Award winning author of Dead End in Norvelt, this is a memoir about becoming a writer the hard way. A Printz Honor and Sibert Honor book. In the summer of 1971, Jack Gantos was an aspiring writer looking for adventure, cash for college tuition, and a way out of a dead end job. For ten thousand dollars, he recklessly agreed to help sail a sixty foot yacht loaded with a ton of hashish from the Virgin Islands to New York City, where he
From the Newbery Award-winning author of Dead End in Norvelt, this is a memoir about becoming a writer the hard way. A Printz Honor and Sibert Honor book.
In the summer of 1971, Jack Gantos was an aspiring writer looking for adventure, cash for college tuition, and a way out of a dead-end job. For ten thousand dollars, he recklessly agreed to help sail a sixty-foot yacht loaded with a ton of hashish from the Virgin Islands to New York City, where he and his partners sold the drug until federal agents caught up with them. For his part in the conspiracy, Gantos was sentenced to serve up to six years in prison. In Hole in My Life, this prizewinning author of over thirty books for young people confronts the period of struggle and confinement that marked the end of his own youth. On the surface, the narrative tumbles from one crazed moment to the next as Gantos pieces together the story of his restless final year of high school, his short-lived career as a criminal, and his time in prison. But running just beneath the action is the story of how Gantos--once he was locked up in a small, yellow-walled cell--moved from wanting to be a writer to writing, and how dedicating himself more fully to the thing he most wanted to do helped him endure and ultimately overcome the worst experience of his life. This title has Common Core connections. Jack Gantos is an award-winning and New York Times bestselling author of books for readers of all ages, including Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key, a National Book Award Finalist, and Joey Pigza Loses Control, a Newbery Honor book. His book The Trouble in Me is an autobiographical novel about a fourteen-year-old Jack Gantos, and his book Dead End in Novelt won the Newbery Medal, the Scott O'Dell Award for historical fiction. Praise for Hole in My Life:"A memoir, by turns harrowing and hilarious, about a huge mistake." --Miami Herald "His account is remarkably free of both self-pity and self-censorship. . . . This is a tale of courage and redemption, proving that a bad start in life does not have to lead to a bad life story." --The New York Times Book Review "Gantos really is Everyman, but an Everyman who has landed himself into a deeper pit than most. What separates Gantos is the determination that took him out of his dreams and into a successful life as a writer. Those writerly skills are in full evidence here, in this thoughtful and provocative memoir as valuable to those who have never heard of Gantos as to those who have read all of his books." --Hyde Park Review of Books "The ultimate cautionary tale." --Smithsonian "This true tale of the worst year in the author's life will be a big surprise for his many fans. . . .This is a story of mistakes, dues, redemption, and finally success at what he always wanted to do: write books." --Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review Awards for Hole in My Life:
School Library Best Books of the Year
Books for the Teen Age, New York Public Library
Bank Street Best Children's Book of the Year
Michael L. Printz Award - Honor
ALA Best Books for Young Adults
NYPL Books for the Teen Age
ALA Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults
American Library Association Best Books for Young Adults
Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books Blue Ribbon Award
Massachusetts Children's Book Award
American Library Association Notable Children's Books
Horn Book Magazine Fanfare List
American Library Association Popular Paperbacks for Young Readers
Parents' Choice Award Winner
Robert F. Sibert Award - Honor
School Library Journal Best Books of the Year
ALA Notable Children's Books
Booklist Editors' Choice
Binding Type: Paperback
Publisher: Square Fish
Published: 04/24/2012
ISBN: 9780312641573
Pages: 224
Weight: 0.42lbs
Size: 8.23h x 5.61w x 0.62d
Accelerated Reader Quiz #/Name: 59167 / Hole in My Life
Reading Level: 5.7 / Interest Level: Upper Grade / Point Value: 7
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4.7 ★★★★★
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Product Reviews
★★★★★ 5
Good to travel fantastic neck support
Size: Camping(Pack of 1), Color: Original White
great confort, unique material, high quality, fantastic neck support
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Reviewed in the United States on May 28, 2026
★★★★★ 1
WHAT A MISTAKE THIS WAS! EXTREMELY SOFT, OFFERING NO SUPPORT AT ALL!
Size: Camping(Pack of 1), Color: Original White, Size: Camping(Pack of 1), Color: Original White
INITIAL Impression: WHAT A MISTAKE THIS WAS! The foam is taking forever to expand, it is a gross color, it is way too soft where it has started to expand. The warranty says it ONLY applies to the original purchaser, which means you cannot give this to anyone as a gift, it would instantly lose its warranty. DO NOT USE ANY EXTERNAL HEAT SOURCE (some memory foam actually suggests putting it in a slightly warm dryer, but to do that would void the warranty.) I got this because I have severe back pain, but it doesn't look like it will ever be firm enough to offer support. It says it will take 24-48 hours to fully expand! I bought it because I need relief NOW, not in 2 days! It has a very limited warranty of only 3 years. The memory foam travel size pillows I bought on Amazon, made by MALOUF, in 2017 came with a 5 year warranty and are still useful, but do need replacing, 9 years later! Unfortunately those pillows are no longer available on Amazon. I chose this small Vaverto memory foam pillow "for camping", because it was available with next morning delivery with some other purchases I made yesterday. (Hoping to be able to use it TODAY.) And because most of the reviews were positive.
It says on the crumpled paper warranty and directions, that ONE side of the pillow is for cooling, but WHICH SIDE? They don't tell you. The order "Shipped at 12:31 AM" the box was cold when it was "Delivered at 9:41 AM". The outdoor temperature had climbed to 51 degrees by then from a low last night of 47 degrees. My room is heated to a comfortable 78 degrees. But we still have a long way to go before this hunk of greenish blue, extremely squishy (I can pinch it at the most expanded area and my fingers nearly touch each other with maybe ¼” of foam separating them. NOT an encouraging sign. There are bits of foam starting to come out of the "punched holes" which appear to be slightly smaller on one side than the other, but WHICH is supposed to be the "cooling side that dissipates heat? Probably the larger holes, but they also weaken the firmness. On closer examination of the crumpled paper that came with it, it says '"TWO-SIDED COVER FOR VERSALITY" Then in a tiny diagram next to that, it says "COOLING SIDE DISSPATES BODY HEAT" with Dissipates spelled wrong! Where is this thing made? Ah.. "CHINA" on a severely crumpled tag inside the cover. It also says the cover is “70% Polyester 30% Viscose Made from Bamboo”. But the Photo shows "Bamboo" in large green letters on the cover along with "VaVerto" in much LARGER grey letters above that. The only letters on my case are the bottom part of a "b" with two "oo" next to it, in a grey-green color, extending from the side seam. NO actual WORDS at all. And the cover looks identical on both sides.
Okay, it's been well over 4 hours in a very warm room, now 80 degrees with the sun pouring in, and it has mostly expanded, but I can still almost touch my fingers together when pinching the thickest part of the pillow, there is still only about ¼” of foam between my fingers. I would describe that as EXTREMELY SOFT. In the actual description of the product, on the Amazon page, if you open the "Features & Specs" it shows "Item Firmness Description - Medium" NOT what the headline says for the product: "Vaverto Small Memory Foam Bed Pillow for Camping - Compressible Medium Firm, Breathable Cover, Machine Washable, Ideal Backpacking".
If I weren’t bedridden in a nursing home this would go back immediately, but it is very hard to get the staff here to help me return ANYTHING that needs to be taken to a store or kiosk. So I may just be out $22.07.
FINAL Impression: WHAT A MISTAKE THIS WAS! EXTREMELY SOFT, OFFERING NO SUPPORT AT ALL!
(PHOTOS ARE NOT ACCURATE to the product!!)
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Reviewed in the United States on May 8, 2026
★★★★★ 5
A GREAT PRODUCT
Size: King (Pack of 1), Style: Single Pack
A great product, it worked well!
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Reviewed in the United States on May 16, 2026
★★★★★ 4
Comfy, but not Cooling
Comfy for a stomach sleeper, but doesn’t stay cool as promised by other reviews.
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Reviewed in the United States on April 9, 2026
★★★★★ 3
Meh. Not impressed but not the worst.
Size: King (Pack of 1), Style: Single Pack, Size: King (Pack of 1), Style: Single Pack
TL;DR: Not worth the money
I’ve had quite a few cooling pillows and, while not the worst, this is also not the best in my experience. First, I had to take the cover off. It was ridiculously thick, thereby negating any cooling effect that I could feel. With the cover removed, the cooling sensation is noticeable when laying your head on it and it lasts for a minute or so. On the bright side, when the cooling feeling completely dissipates, the pillow doesn’t feel hot like some others. Having to lay on it without the cover makes it less comfortable because of the encasing material. Other than that, I’d rate the support and comfort as mediocre as well. Not worth the money in my opinion, maybe if it was about 33%-50% less.
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Reviewed in the United States on January 21, 2023