Who is the pigman in the book

With their loser friends, Norton and Dennis, they prank-call Mr. Pignati and end up going to his house on the pretending to collecting money for the "L. Pignati is very welcoming, and invites them to go to the zoo the next day. Pignati proudly shows Lorraine and John his collection of ceramic pigs, which he and his wife started together when he gave her a ceramic pig as a joke, to remind her of him. Lorraine feels guilty about taking his money, but John is unconcerned, cashes the check, and spends the money on beer and cigarettes.

The next day, Lorraine and John go to the zoo with Mr. Pignati, and meet a baboon whom he calls his best friend, Bobo. After this trip to the zoo, Lorraine and John's friendship with Mr. Pignati deepens, and they give him an affectionate nickname, "the Pigman," though they always address him as "Mr.

Pignati's house nearly every afternoon or evening, and he always makes them feel much more comfortable than they feel in their parents' homes. Pignati invites them to explore the house, and John and Lorraine learn that Mrs. Pignati is dead when John finds a funeral bill for "Conchetta Pignati. Pignati buys strange gourmet food, such as snails and chocolate-covered ants, which he gleefully shares with them. Pignati buys all three of them roller skates.

Pignati, becomes increasingly curious about Lorraine and John's friendship with him, and indicates to John that he intends to try to break into the house. Feeling increasingly guilty for having lied to Mr.

Pignati and taken his money, John and Lorraine confess that they are not charity workers. Pignati, sobbing, tells them his wife is dead. Corona Column 3 Use these free activities to help kids explore our planet, learn about global challenges, think of solutions, and take action.

The Pigman. Popular with kids. Teens grasp impact of their hurtfulness in emotional novel. Paul Zindel Coming of Age Rate book. Read or buy. Based on 1 review. Based on 11 reviews. Get it now Searching for streaming and purchasing options Common Sense is a nonprofit organization.

Your purchase helps us remain independent and ad-free. Get it now on Searching for streaming and purchasing options Did we miss something on diversity? Suggest an update The Pigman. Your privacy is important to us. We won't share this comment without your permission. If you chose to provide an email address, it will only be used to contact you about your comment.

See our privacy policy. A lot or a little? The parents' guide to what's in this movie. Educational Value. Positive Messages. Positive Role Models. What parents need to know Parents need to know that The Pigman is a searing, emotional young adult novel in which two teen siblings learn the impact they can have as kind -- or hurtful -- friends. Continue reading Show less. Stay up to date on new reviews. Get full reviews, ratings, and advice delivered weekly to your inbox.

User Reviews Parents say Kids say. Adult Written by TommyT December 20, Poor role models Two lying and cheating teenagers con an old man into a friendship that eventually kills him with a heart attack.

Such a depressing dead-ended plot. Just about Continue reading. Report this review. Teen, 13 years old Written by school. Its a really good book!

And, when I first started reading it, I was iffy about it. Teen, 13 years old Written by mackenzie. The most realistic book i've read in a long time I got recommended this book for my novel study by my good 8th ELA teacher, and so my two friends and I decided to read this banned book.

John first tells the reader that he hates school and that is the reason why he got in trouble with the Pigman. John says that he used to get in trouble a lot at school for pulling pranks and putting firecrackers in the bathroom stalls. He says that he is now a sophomore and has given up pulling pranks at school.

The two are considering this a memorial, and Lorraine has become livelier since they started working on it.

At first, she tells us a bit about John, relating that she believes that he only gets away with so much because he is handsome. She says that she and John are friends and both come from hard to live with families. She says that she realizes that their teachers at school probably have personal lives that none of their students know about.

Lorraine says that she was once called upon to drop of some papers at a teacher named Ms. Lorraine says that John is a prolific liar and the difference between the two of them is that she has some compassion.

John, she says, has compassion as well but it is buried deep down inside of him. Lorraine ends the chapter by relating how she and John became friends. She says that one day he sat next to her on the school bus and started laughing out of nowhere. Angered by this, she asked him to stop because she worried that everyone would think she was sitting with a lunatic. John tells the reader that Lorraine wants to be a writer, so she tends to remember the big words. He wants to be an actor, so he tends to remember the actions more.

He confesses how the pair first met the Pigman. Months earlier, they used to get together with two other classmates named Dennis Kobin and Norton Kelly and make prank phone calls. This was how they accidentally picked out the number of someone called Mr. Pignati and John says that it was Lorraine who did it.

He says that Mr. Lorraine begins the next chapter by emphasizing how mean and disturbed Dennis and Norton are. Then she picks up the story of how they met the Pigman. She confesses that she cheated by peeking through her fingers so she could choose someone with an address in her neighborhood.

When she calls Mr. Pignati, he stays on the phone with her for a long time telling bad jokes. She assumes that he is very lonely. Lorraine lies that she is collecting money for charity and Mr. Pignati agrees to donate ten dollars. Lorraine and John say that they will come to pick it up the next day.

John reveals that Lorraine said she felt guilty the next day and did not want to go to Mr. John does not tell Norton about the money as he knows that he would only steal it. Lorraine and John go to Mr. Pignati is a retired electrician who is not surprised to find that the charity workers are teenagers and lets them in.

Pignati tells the teenagers that his wife is on a trip to California and gives them a ten dollar check. Before they can leave, he shows them a collection of small glass pigs. He says that he started the collection after giving his wife a pig to remember him by when they first started dating. He also asks the teenagers to go to the zoo with him the next day.

Lorraine says that she argued with John about not cashing the check and not going to the zoo with Mr. When Lorraine returned home from Mr. John convinces Lorraine to meet Mr. Pignati at the zoo, and the teenagers go to see him the next day. Lorraine thinks that she sees omens of doom in everything while at the zoo. Pignati shows them a baboon named Bobo whom he says is his best friend. Lorraine begins to loosen up and laugh when John starts making monkey noises at the baboon.

On the way to Mr. At dinner that night, John argues with his father about his desire to become an actor. When John next goes to Mr. Pignati tells them to make themselves at home in his house and Lorraine finds a picture of a young woman in a confirmation dress. Pignati confesses that this is his wife, Conchetta. That night, Lorraine has dinner with her mother. She tells Lorraine that her current patient keeps trying to grab her inappropriately.

The next day Lorraine and John meet Mr. Pignati again. This time, it is at the Staten Island Ferry which they use to travel to Manhattan. He tells the teenagers that he and his wife used to love shopping for food together and to cook it up. In the pet department, they see three monkeys in a cage hugging each other, and Mr.

Pignati stops to talk to them for a long time. Pignati buys them all roller skates and Lorraine and John wear them out of the store. John begins the next chapter talking about a newspaper clipping that he cut out.