The Pigman and Me
Digital version – browse, print or download
BfK Newsletter
Receive the latest news & reviews direct to your inbox!
Cover Story
The illustration on the front of BfK this month is the cover of Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking-Glass with illustrations by Sir John Tenniel. The book is published by Macmillan (0 333 29037 2) at £9.99, and we're grateful for their help in using this picture of Alice and the White Knight.
PDF
Printer-friendly version
Send to friendThe Pigman and Me
Many people would include Paul Zindel's The Pigman on their list of significant teenage novels. Now, more than twenty years after it was published, Zindel has written an 'autobiography' of the time in his teens when he met his own Pigman, Nonno Frankie, who made him laugh, cry and think and taught him 'the greatest secret of life'.
It's a story with which teenagers will identify as Zindel recollects moments of embarrassment, guilt, and fear (the terrors of a new school and encountering the local hoodlums). But perhaps most memorable is the sheer zaniness of Zindel's home life shared with the wonderful Vivona family and twenty odd Lassie lookalikes, bought to restore the family fortune!
Biographies for teenagers tend to be worthy but uninspiring. The Pigman and Me is a powerful, funny and touching read; it will be enjoyed by a wide age range of existing Zindel fans and will make some new ones. A very good addition to the biography shelves.
