";s:4:"text";s:25652:"However, an award-winning novel for children or adults should be more than amusing. This is a book to read just for the fun of it----thank goodness! Grades 6 & up. Dead End in Norvelt is the winner of the 2012 Newbery Medal for the year's best contribution to children's literature and the Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction! Welcome back. Jack Gantos is an American author of children's books renowned for his portrayal of fictional Joey Pigza, a boy with ADHD, and many other well known characters such as Rotten Ralph, Jack Henry, Jack Gantos (memoirs) and others. I wish I could give this Newbery winner 3 and a half stars, but that's not an option and, sadly, it doesn't deserve 4 in my mind. It’s a question that haunts every book he writes, from the simplest, What was the Newbery Committee thinking? Homepage » Quizzes list » Dead End in Norvelt. It's alive." Pleasant!" There are authors you suspect must be dead. I can't imagine why. At least, I do from an old man's perspective looking back and remembering. It's the summer of 1962, and Jack's vacation is ruined when his Mom grounds him for the entire summer. Which is how I feel about this book. Historical Fiction. Dead End in Norvelt is an autobiographical novel by the American author Jack Gantos, published by Farrar, Straus, and Giroux in 2011. Goodreads helps you keep track of books you want to read. Jack's work--typing up obituaries for his arthritic neighbor--chronicles the history of the community: a "museum of freaks." Jack’s innocence (and even naïvety) shines through his personality,which undoubtedly will charm the book’s readers. It was easy to imagine this being narrated much in the way that the films "A Christmas Story, "Brighton Beach Memoirs," and "Stand By Me" are voiced by the adult character. 3 stars. [5] In Britain, where it was published by the Transworld Publishers imprint Corgi Books, it was one of eight books on the longlist for the annual Guardian Children's Fiction Prize. Jack Gantos is the main character in the story. I really enjoyed following the "adventures" of young Jack Gantos, or "Gantos Boy" as the tricycle-riding, elderly Spizz insists upon calling him. Jack Gantos is an American author of children's books renowned for his portrayal of fictional Joey Pigza, a boy with ADHD, and many other well known characters such as Rotten Ralph, Jack Henry, Jack Gantos (memoirs) and others. There are 8 classes and it takes 10 days to see them all - throw in the fact I got bronchitis and it got dragged out another week - but voila, I am finally done with the 2012 Newbery Medal winne. This book is partly autobiographical, partly fiction, and totally wacky. In the historic town of Norvelt, Pennsylvania, twelve-year-old Jack Gantos spends the summer of 1962 grounded for various offenses until he is assigned to help an elderly neighbor with a most unusual chore involving the newly dead, molten wax, twisted promises, Girl Scout cookies, underage driving, lessons from history, typewriting, and countless bloody noses (Gantos, Jack). I don't think it is the best thing I ever read, but it is highly entertaining and a change from the angst-ridden books that often garner the Newbery Medal. And who firmly believes that "history isn't dead. It reminds me of a bomb shelter waiting to be annihilated. We've got you covered with the buzziest new releases of the day. Dead End in Norvelt Summary Jack lives with his Mom and Dad in Norvelt, a small town big on quirky neighbors. It is bloody bad. In the book Dead End On Norvelt, people use power to control others. Even if you win, the battle is never over inside you.”, Pennsylvania Young Readers' Choice Award Nominee for Grades 6-8 (2014), Boston Author's Club Young Reader Award Nominee (2012), See all 8 questions about Dead End in Norvelt…, Dead End in Norvelt / Jack Gantos. Jack's father wants to use the field for. Norvelt was a New Deal town built by the US government to house poor families and named after Eleanor Roosevelt, described by Miss Volker as 'the greatest American woman who has ever lived'. (Irwin) Even if the historical facts in this book are only partially true, I still wish I knew about the history of Norvelt when I lived in Pittsburgh so I could go check it out. Yes. Dead End in Norvelt . Most of the dead are original members of the Norvelt community. I will look for more from this author. He's from western Pennsylvania! Melding the entirely true and the wildly fictional, Dead End in Norvelt is a novel about an incredible two months for a kid named Jack Gantos, whose plans for vacation excitement are shot down when he is "grounded for life" by his feuding parents, and whose nose spews bad blood at every little shock he gets. Over the years, I’ve read a few Jack Gantos’ articles or speeches in, Winner of the 2012 Newbery, this entertaining semi-autobiographical tale tells of an America now long gone. Good recommendation for historical fiction though not in a strict definition of the genre perhaps. You have to like a character who loves "to sniff the insides of books...Because each one has its own special perfume." And that's one. I see that the reviews for this book are all over the place. Actually, that’s probably a bit generous. Dead End in Norvelt is an autobiographical novel by the American author Jack Gantos, published by Farrar, Straus, and Giroux in 2011. You just have to be yourself, for there is no love greater than self love”, “Don't ever go to war. But, getting “grounded for life also brought many adventures, … It's everywhere you look. Jack's father wants to use the field for a bomb shelter and a runway for the plane he's fixing up. I finally finished this book and not because it was bad. There’s the slightly ludicrous but still self-righteous, tricycle-riding Mr. Spizz, who hands out citations for mundane infractions. We’d love your help. You just have to be yourself, for there is no love greater than self love” In 1960, I was twelve years old. 1994-06-01 in Juvenile Fiction [6], Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction, "Dead End in Norvelt by Jack Gantos - review: A defiantly political tale", Association for Library Service to Children, "'Screwball mystery' by Jack Gantos wins oldest children's books prize", "2012 Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction", "Discover the Guardian children's fiction prize 2012 longlist - gallery", "Dead End in Norvelt by Jack Gantos - review: every child will be able to relate to Jack's character", "Jack Gantos, Chris Raschka win Newbery, Caldecott Medals", From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Melding the entirely true and the wildly fictional, Dead End in Norvelt is a novel about an incredible two months for a kid named Jack Gantos, whose plans for vacation excitement are shot down when he is “grounded for life” by his feuding parents, and … Melding the entirely true and the wildly fictional, Dead End in Norvelt is a novel about an incredible two months for a kid named Jack Gantos, whose plans for vacation excitement are shot down when he is "grounded for life" by his feuding parents, and whose nose spews bad blood at every little shock he gets. And then there’s the indefatigable, eccentric Miss Volker, a walking encyclopedia of New Deal Americana, who gets him to help write vivid obituaries of the now mostly elderly townspeople and a column about the town’s leftist history. It's not for ruining multiple shirts because of his frequent nosebleeds (Jack's nose opens up anytime he's feeling nervous or unsettled). The book concludes with Jack being picked up in his dad's J-3 and doing some "bombing runs" with paint-filled balloons on the Viking drive-in theater, during which he decides it isn't that fun and asks to be let down back on the ball field. As it is, I'll do that next time I'm in PA. After I figured out why I was enjoying Gantos' narration so much, I became even more attached to the story because I imagined the streets near my grandparents' house, the geographic area, the coal miner historical feeling in western Pennsylvania, and what it might've been like for my dad growing up around the same time. It kind of reminded me of some of Richard Peck's books ("A Long Way from Chicago" and "A Year Down Yonder")with the quirky characters and humorous situations. There’s a touch of the tall tale in DEAD END IN NORVELT, reinforced by the fact that the main character shares the author's name. Start by marking “Dead End in Norvelt” as Want to Read: Error rating book. Dead End in Norvelt, by Jack Gantos, portrayed the adventurous yet boring summer of a boy, Jack, whose plans for summer are ravaged when he gets grounded for making some highly immature choices. This ends up causing the rest of the Hells Angel gang to cause mayhem in the town, lighting unoccupied houses on fire and stealing the most expensive casket from Mr. Huffer's funeral parlor for their fallen brother. I wish I could give this Newbery winner 3 and a half stars, but that's not an option and, sadly, it doesn't deserve 4 in my mind. I did not enjoy this book at all. If I get caught up in a good book, it will usually take me only days to finish, but Dead End in Norvelt took me weeks! Dead End in Norvelt is a story about the author's youth and the town he grew up in. It features a boy named Jack Gantos and is based in the author's hometown, Norvelt, Pennsylvania. It's not for ruining multiple shirts because of his frequent nosebleeds (Jack's nose opens up anytime he's feeling nervous or unsettled). I actually really enjoyed it. An achingly funny romp through a dying New Deal town. His mother planned to use the harvest corn as a barter instrument and food supply for those less fortunate in the small town of Norville. It's ev. Dead End in Norvelt has also been named the 2012 winner of the Scott O’Dell Award 3 for historical fiction for children and young adults. And then it came to me like a brick to my head--my extremely embarrassed head, that is. Just picked up the audio of this book for $5 at a second hand music store in town and I'm about halfway through the first disc. I received this as a GoodReads FirstReads giveaway win. Jack Gantos. To create our... To see what your friends thought of this book, Yeah she had arthritis and it made her hands move more were you not paying attention. Then I started to read the first chapter out loud to the grade 5 classes - many laughing hysterically at the outlandish behavior of the characters. The story takes place in the early 1960s and opens with Jack standing on a bench in his backyard trying to see the movie playing at the nearby drive-in. [4] The Guardian Prize judges, who are British children's novelists, cited "self-sufficiency, community, and neighbourliness". DEAD END IN NORVELT is a cornfield plowed under. June 24. Face it, when you haven’t heard anything from an author in years, you think they must have passed on and perhaps you just missed seeing the obit. (Let's hear it for the western PA tradition of getting the first day of hunting season off of school!). Several original Norvelt residents die (old women), and Jack helps Miss Volker write their obituaries. It features a boy named Jack Gantos and is based in the author's hometown, Norvelt, Pennsylvania. Pleasant bar. Later, Jack's dad acquires a Piper J-3 Cub, and assigns Jack to dig an underground bomb shelter as his dad builds a runway for the plane. Voices from a Medieval Village, Flora & Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Dead_End_in_Norvelt&oldid=1016778598, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 9 April 2021, at 01:03. Set in 1962 in a government-planned town as part of a program spearheaded by Eleanor Roosevelt to help Americans live decent, middle-class lives, it’s much more a tale of Depression-era New Deal progressivism, that’s sadly such a bad word today, than it is of small-town ‘60s America. I loved the humor in the book – the jokes felt authentic — just as a 12-year-old would think of them. I kept writing in my reading log all the one-liners I liked -inking up 13 pages. Joey Pigza - series. Reads like a hot mess at first with bizarre, seemingly disconnected characters and events, but Gantos pulls it together and builds something brilliant out of it. Jack is the central character. Instead it's for plowing under his mother's corn field, even though he was just following his father's orders. "[T]he real hero of the novel isn't Jack himself, but his home town and its values. The first clue that Dead End in Norvelt is funny is that the main character, Jack Gantos, has the same name as the author. Readers will find Jack and the wacky characters who fill his life in 1960s Norvelt, a government-sponsored social experiment in western Pennsylvania, funny and will enjoy the read. He lives with his parents in Norvelt. That's right near Mt. A wonderful read with history and coming of age themes. Instead it's for plowing under his mother's corn field, even though he was just following his father's orders. Nearly the only interaction Jack gets is with two older people. He's a 12 year-old boy with a nose that never seems to stop bleeding. by Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR). Gantos has won a number of awards, including the Newbery, the Newbery Honor, the Scott O'Dell Award, the Printz Honor, and the Sibert Honor from the American Library Association, and he has been a finalist for the National Book Award. Refresh and try again. I'm no kid. The book's Jack is charming and earnest and serves as a willing foil for Norvelt’s wacky residents. There's no shortage of strangeness to go around, though, as 12-year-old Jack discovers in the summer of 1962. Although I have many complaints (the murder of a half dozen people is played for laughs, the father is psychotic but no one seems to notice, the book somehow manages to also be boring) let's focus on just one: the casual use of a particular slur. Dead End in Norvelt offers up a historical comedy that chronicles one summer in the life of young Jack Gantos living in Norvelt, Pennsylvania. It's the summer of 1962 and Jack Gantos has been grounded by his mother. As Jack thinks about the strange rate of deaths in original Norvelters, he realizes that thin mint Girl Scout cookies given out to the original Norvelters through the Community Center may have something to do with it because many of those people rely on it, along with his mom's homemade casseroles, for food. 25 bonus points 3 successes English 0 (0) Multi Eyes challenges you to solve this quiz. It is bloody bad. There’s also his friend Bunny, but she keeps scaring him with tales of her father’s mortuary, so he gets panic nosebleeds. It reminds me of a bomb shelter waiting to be annihilated. In 1960, I was twelve years old. This book was really, really good! Great recommendation from GR friend, Tina. I don't think it is the best thing I ever read, but it is highly entertaining and a change from the angst-ridden books that often garner the Newbery Medal. While mopping up epic nose bleeds, Jack narrates this screw-ball mystery in an endearing and believable voice. Jack turns twelve. Dead End in Norvelt takes place during the summer of 1962, after the American schoolboy Jack Gantos fires his father's war trophy, a Japanese sniper rifle, at a war movie playing at a drive-in movie theater thinking it is unloaded. Finally, an inset paragraph (styled after the "In this day in history" section that Miss Volker employed Jack to type along with the obits in the Norvelt news) talks about Jack being ungrounded. Around this time, Jack has a red Plymouth Valiant promised to him from Miss Volker as a birthday present after he had been driving it as Miss Volker's chauffeur. (2012 Newbery Medal Book) Title of a book, article or other published item (this will display to the public): Dead End in Norvelt I'm no kid. Quite the opposite. In 1962 Norvelt, Pennsylvania (a town founded by Eleanor Roosevelt), Jack's summer job keeps him busy. I had really enjoyed Mr. Gantos' Joey Pigza books, and this one follows that format of having. And it has about as much usefulness. If you want to save your points and appear in the Kidibot charts, you must be logged in. 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