Jack Gantos Books in Order
Jack Gantos has written 50 books, published between 1975 and 2019. The first book is Rotten Ralph (1975) and the newest is A Pain in the Pigza (2019). Publication order is the reading order below.
- Books
- 50
- Published
- 1975–2019
- Pages on record
- 3,888 in 35 of 50 books
- Reading time
- 65–97 hours
Reading time is an estimate, not a recorded figure: 3,888 pages at 300 words a page, read at 200–300 words a minute, covering the 35 of 50 titles with a page count on record.
Jack Gantos is an American children's author, born in 1951, known for two creations. Rotten Ralph is a cat who starred in twenty picture books between 1976 and 2014, illustrated by Nicole Rubel; Joey Pigza is a boy with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, featured in five novels between 1998 and 2014. Gantos took the 2012 Newbery Medal for Dead End in Norvelt. The catalogue records 50 titles from Rotten Ralph (1975) onward, written for grades 3 to 5, with a median length of 48 pages.
Source: Wikidata
How many Jack Gantos books are there?
Jack Gantos has 50 books, released between 1975 and 2019. They include 5 series and 15 titles listed outside any series.
Jack Gantos Books in Publication Order
The table lists all 50 Jack Gantos books in the order they were published, with the release year, the page count where one is on record, and how many independent book listings confirm each title. Catalogue data as of November 2026.
- 11975481/4
- 2Sleepy Ronald1976 · 30 pages · confirmed 1/41976301/4
- 3Fair-Weather Friends1977 · 32 pages · confirmed 1/41977321/4
- 41977321/4
- 5Aunt Bernice1978 · 32 pages · confirmed 1/41978321/4
- 6The Perfect Pal1979 · 30 pages · confirmed 1/41979301/4
- 7Greedy Greeny1979 · 32 pages · confirmed 1/41979321/4
- 8Willy's Raiders1980 · 33 pages · confirmed 1/41980331/4
- 91980471/4
- 10Swampy Alligator1980 · 32 pages · confirmed 1/41980321/4
- 11The Werewolf Family1980 · 32 pages · confirmed 1/41980321/4
- 121984321/4
- 131986301/4
- 141989–1/4
- 151990–1/4
- 1619941601/4
- 171994321/4
- 1819952141/4
- 19Zip Six1996 · 281 pages · confirmed 1/419962811/4
- 20Desire Lines1997 · 144 pages · confirmed 1/419971441/4
- 2119971761/4
- 221997301/4
- 2319981601/4
- 241998–1/4
- 251998–1/4
- 261998461/4
- 271998–1/4
- 2819991921/4
- 291999–1/4
- 301999–1/4
- 3120002081/4
- 32Hole in My Life2002 · 208 pages · confirmed 1/420022081/4
- 3320022291/4
- 342002461/4
- 3520032081/4
- 362004471/4
- 37The Love Curse of the Rumbaughs2006 · confirmed 1/42006–1/4
- 3820072151/4
- 392008–1/4
- 402009–1/4
- 4120113411/4
- 422011–1/4
- 432013–1/4
- 4420141541/4
- 452014481/4
- 46The Trouble in Me2015 · confirmed 1/42015–1/4
- 47Writing Radar2017 · 203 pages · confirmed 1/420172031/4
- 48A Suicide Bomber Sits in the Library2019 · 104 pages · confirmed 1/420191041/4
- 492019–1/4
- 502019–1/4
Jack Gantos series in order
The series linked below has its own reading-order page.
- Joey Pigza books in order 5 books
Jack Gantos books grouped by series
Each title below is a row in the publication-order table above. None of these groups has a reading-order page of its own on this site.
Rotten Ralph in order
21 books- 1. Rotten Ralph
- 2. Worse Than Rotten, Ralph
- 3. Rotten Ralph Helps Out
- 4. Rotten Ralph's Rotten Christmas
- 5. Rotten Ralph's Trick or Treat
- 6. Rotten Ralph's Show and Tell
- 7. Happy Birthday Rotten Ralph
- 8. Not So Rotten Ralph
- 9. Rotten Ralph's Rotten Romance
- 10. Rotten Ralph's Halloween Howl
- 11. Back to School for Rotten Ralph
- 12. Best in Show for Rotten Ralph
- and 9 more in the table above
Jack Henry in order
5 booksNorvelt in order
2 booksStandalone books
15 books15 Jack Gantos titles here are not listed as part of any series.
Do you have to read Jack Gantos books in order?
You only need to read Jack Gantos books in order within each series: the books listed here span 5 separate series, and each series has its own publication order.
Where to start with Jack Gantos
Start with Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key (1998), the first Joey Pigza book. The earliest catalogued title overall is Rotten Ralph (1975).
What is the newest Jack Gantos book?
A Pain in the Pigza (2019) is the newest Jack Gantos book released so far.
Is there a new Jack Gantos book coming?
No next Jack Gantos book is announced in the catalogue, which is a gap in the listings it merges rather than a sign that the run has ended.
Awards Jack Gantos has won
Wikidata records 1 award for Jack Gantos. Each row states whether the title won or was shortlisted, and the year the award was given. Award data is sourced from Wikidata.
- Newbery Medal2012Wonfor Dead End in Norvelt
Jack Gantos at a glance
- No recent titles
- The newest Jack Gantos title on record dates from 2019, 7 years ago. No later title is catalogued.
- Release pace
- Jack Gantos books have appeared about one a year on average.
- Length
- 3,888 pages across the 35 of 50 books with a recorded length, a median of 48 pages each.
- Busiest decade
- Most Jack Gantos books, 16 of 50, were published in the 1990s.
When Jack Gantos books were published
Publication distribution by decade, showing when Jack Gantos titles appeared. 1990s was the most productive decade with 16 titles.
50 books total across 5 decades. Decade reflects the year each title was first catalogued.
What the Jack Gantos books are about
43 of the 50 Jack Gantos books carry subject tags in Open Library's catalogue. The subjects below are the ones that recur across them, most frequent first: children's fiction is tagged on 28 of 43. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.
- Children's fiction 28 of 43 books
- Cats 15 of 43 books
- Behavior 10 of 43 books
- Friendship 5 of 43 books
- Humor 5 of 43 books
- Animals 4 of 43 books
- Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder 4 of 43 books
- Conduct of life 4 of 43 books
- Family life 4 of 43 books
- Schools 4 of 43 books
- Authorship 3 of 43 books