Student Book Review:


The Pigman

by: Paul Zindal


Review done by:

 Theresa L
Grade 7
Van Antwerp Middle School
Niskayuna, NY

The Pigman is a great book. It really taught me a lesson that I never knew before, and that I will remember for the rest of my life.
In the book there is two kids. There names are Lorraine and John. Lorraine and John play this game every now and then called phone prank. The object of the game is to call a person and see how long they can keep that person on the phone. One day the lucky number belonged to a man with the name Mr. Pignati. They told him that they were working for a company in the town, and he believed every word of it. Mr. Pignati was a very lonely man, until he met Lorraine and John. Before he met John and Lorraine his only friend was a Monkey at the local zoo.
One day he asked them to come over to his house to have some tea and cookies. When Lorraine and John arrived at the door they had no idea what kind of friendship they were getting there selves into. Over the months Mr. Pignati, John, and Lorraine became very good friends. Mr. Pignati starts to act like a little kid again, and eventually it leads to alot of trouble. Mr. Pignati had gained so much trust on John and Lorraine that he never suspected that they could be lieing. When John and Lorraine told him the truth it was almost to much for him to handle, and he had a heart attack. As time went on things mostly got worse. Mr. Pignati tried to act like a kid, even though he was to old to. Then one day something very bad happened, perhaps the worst thing that could ever happen to him. His best friend, Bobo the monkey died. Mr. Pignati was so heartbroken and it was all to much to take anymore. That day Mr. Pignati died of a heart attack.
The lesson that I learned from this book is that you cant go back in time. Once something is over, you cant go back and try to change it or relive the moment. I learned this through the book because Mr. Pignati tried to do that, and failed miserably. He tried to act like a kid again, and tried to do things that a normal kid would do. But once you are past your childhood you cant go back, because you weren't ment to. When you are an adult you are ment to be one and you shouldn't try to go back and try to act like a kid again, like Mr. Pignati did. I liked this book because of the very important lesson it taught. I will never forget that lesson as long as I live because I know how out of hand it could get. I also liked it because it very well written, and I think that Paul Zindal is a very talented writter.
I would recommend this book to anybody who loves to read. Even though it is an easy book to read, I still think everybody should read it because of the lesson it teaches. That is why I thought this book was so great.

Student Book Review:


Pigman, The


by: Paul Zindel


Review done by:

 Kerri Montgomery
Grade 7
Van Antwerp Middle School
Niskayuna, NY

The Pigman by Paul Zindel is a excellent book. The Pigman is a realistic novel about friends who have second thoughts about being friends with an old, lonely man. This book is a very exciting book that anyone would enjoy.
The Pigman is about two kids, Lorraine and John. Lorraine, John, and some of their friends play a game called telephone marathon. The telephone marathon was a game played with as many friends as you wished. One person would flip through the pages of a telephone book, and when they stopped they would run their finger up and down the page and when they stopped their finger they would have to play a prank on the person whose name their finger landed on. One day it was Lorraine's turn. She flipped through the pages and she landed on the name Angelo Pignati. After the name there was a number. Lorraine tried to think of a good prank and John decided to use a fund raiser (a way to get money.) Lorraine dialed the number and a voice answered the telephone saying "hello" the voice was Mr. Pignati's. Lorraine introduce herself as Mrs. Truman and John as Mr. Wandermeyer. They ask Mr. Pignati if he would be interested in giving money to a charity, being the very nice man Mr. Pignati is he said "sure." Mr. Pignati asked Mrs. Truman and Mr. Wandermeyer when a good time to come by and pick up the check would be and that is when Lorraine and John realized that the task was not going to be as easy as they had thought. Lorraine and John thought they would just be able to have Mr. Pignati send them the check but he asked if they could come pick the check up, so Lorraine and John went to pick the check up. While picking the check up they realized that Mr. Pignati is a very generous, kind man. John and Lorraine feel kind of bad steeling money from him, but they do it anyway. That is how the book began.
Lorraine and John go through the book getting to know Mr. Pignati and find out how much of a lonely man he is. Mr. Pignati goes on and on about how his wife Conchetta is away on vacation and how much he misses her. Mr. Pignati always takes walks to the zoo and one day he asked Lorraine and John if they wanted to go to the zoo with him, not wanting to be rude or mean they said sure. Mr. Pignati, Lorraine and John meet at the bench outside of the zoo and together they walked inside. Near the main gate there is a baboon named BoBo. Mr. Pignati always talks to BoBo the baboon. BoBo seems to be Mr. Pignati's one and only friend. Later in the book Lorraine and John find out that Conchetta is not really away on vacation but she has died. One day while Lorraine and John were at Mr. Pignati's house all three of them were fooling around on their roller skates. Mr. Pignati started chasing John up the stairs and on his way up his heart gave out. Mr. Pignati made it to the hospital and was making a slow recovery. While Mr. Pignati was in the hospital he asked Lorraine and John to watch his house. Lorraine and John gladly said "yes."
While watching Mr. Pignati's house Lorraine and John decide to have a party. They invite a bunch of friends over and have a blast. The whole party was great except for the big mess their friends had made. There was trash all over, the upstairs bedrooms were a mess and worst of all there was a hole in Conchetta's dress. Lorraine and John did not have enough time to clean up their mess before Mr. Pignati came home. The expression on his face said so many things. The expression's on John's and Lorraine's face's said a few things. Their faces showed sadness, pity and fear. To find out what happens you should read The Pigman by: Paul Zindel.
The Pigman was a great booked filled with many different emotions. This book was 156 pages of great writing. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone, especially if you have trouble finding a very good book or if you do not like reading because this book is very easy to get into. It is a book you can't put down. That is why you should read The Pigman by: Paul Zindel.

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