Author Jack Gantos visiting Cape Girardeau, Jackson schools

In the first grade, Jack Gantos was in the lowest reading group. Now he is a successful author who enjoys spending time in middle schools reading in an abandoned bookmobile.

The author got his first break in college, when "Rotten Ralph" was published in 1976. He jokes in his website's biography that "this surprised a great many people who thought he was going to specialize in rehabilitating old bookmobiles into housing for retired librarians."

Gantos continued writing and is now the author of the "Rotten Ralph," "Joey Pigza," and "Jack Henry" children's series. Many of his books draw on his own experiences growing up in Pennsylvania, Barbados, and south Florida.

His Joey Pigza books, which feature a child with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, have arguably brought him the most attention.

Young adult fiction by Gantos includes "Desire Lines," "Hole in My Life," and "The Love Curse of the Rumbaughs."

Gantos will speak to Cape Girardeau students at 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. Monday at Central Junior High, and Jackson students at 8:30 a.m., 10:15 a.m., 1 p.m. at Jackson High School. The event at Central is full, but the public is invited to a writer's workshop at 6:30 p.m. Monday in the cafeteria at Central Middle School. Books will be available for purchase and signing.