Hole in my life

Hole in My Life Hole in My Life by Jack Gantos is a very interesting book for teenagers that wants to take short cuts in their life. This book is written by Jack Gantos. The book is about a teenage boy, Jack Gantos trying to figure out what his plans for the future will be. This autobiography focuses on the idea of “ What If”? Jack Gantos tells the story of his high school days, living in a cheap hotel. I was impressed by how he went through all those problems in his life. In this story Jack shows that when you are a high school student how difficult it is to lead yourself. In Chapter One, Gantos says that the prisoner in the photograph is him. He then tells the story of how he ended up in prison. In the 1970s, while living in St. Croix he was persuaded to help a friend named Rik to smuggle thousands of pounds of hash into the Untied States on a boat but they were caught when they arrived in New York. After that, Jack hired an attorney to do his case before the judge. However, the ship’s log where jack wrote that he is not doing anything wrong that he was just afraid of the punishment, was proof enough for him to be made guilty and sent to federal prison. Jack was super afraid of prison life which is why he managed to stay completely clean and safe by reading The Karamazov by Dostoyevsky and writing his own thoughts and feelings in between the lines of the books. He was also hired to be an X-Ray technician for the prison. Jack, along with his caseworker and the administrative assistant made a college application to Graham Junior College in New York, where he was accepted to start in January. This helped him get released from prison after serving 18 months. This shows that after the consequences of his actions, he was able to reform himself. He saw that the only way to stay out of trouble would be by reading and staying away from things that may lead him to a worst life. I like the fact that he learned from his lesson and did not ever choose to repeat it again. By the end of the book, I was happy for Gantos. Even though he experienced a lot of bad situations in his life, he achieved his dream of wanting to become a writer. He was made to mature in prison and because of that he stopped being irresponsible and finally did what he always dreamed of doing. I would recommend this book for high school students because it shows how choices become a reality and can mess up your life. Prison is real, but it also shows how a person can turn their life around as well. Gantos used his time in prison to focus on his ideas and dreams and to never take illegal short cuts in life.