What would you do if you murdered a person without even intending to? That is exactly what happened to two high school kids in this story. The Pigman was written by Paul Zindel. The intended audience for this book is young adults. The genre of this story is realistic fiction.


The setting of this book is in New York City in the 1960s when high school kids were allowed to drink, smoke, and pretty much do whatever they intended to do. The characters in this story are John, Lorain, and Angelo Pignati, or better known as the Pigman. John is the kind of kid who doesn’t care about anything, Lorain is kind of kid who never wants any trouble, and Mr. Pignati is a very lonely man who just wants a person to talk to. The rising action in this story is when John and Lorain trash Mr. Pignati’s house by having a party while Mr. Pignati is in the hospital after having a heart attack. The climax of the story is when Mr. Pignati falls to the ground after finding out that Bobo, the baboon at the zoo, is dead. The resolution of this story is Mr. Pignati dies, and John and Lorain feel like they caused his death.

In comparison to other books this book isn’t like the rest. This book is different because two people tell the story by John telling a chapter and Lorain telling one. It really shows the characters thoughts and feelings in each chapter. My opinion on this book is it was very interesting; it wasn’t like any book I had read before. I liked the book.

To anyone that is interested in reading this book you should know that this is a very humorous novel but it can be very serious. This book has pretty much everything humor, fear, romance, and much more. This book is for everyone. I hope you love the book as much as I have.