Dead End in Norvelt (Norvelt Series)

This book captures the reality of growing up in SW Pa. The author does a masterful job of capturing both the simple basic lifestye coupled with decency and integrity and humor. His stories rang so true for me. I lived in Norvelt "D" section and often received "community service" discipline while growing up.
Mike Go United Football!

I gave this book four stars because, in my personal opinion, kind of dragged for most of the book. When I read a good book, the author sort of hints at the way a story is going. You had no idea what you were reading about will actually have an ending.

What were they thinking?? As a retried educator, I have read all the Newbery books, some many times to my students. In no way, shape or form does this book deserve the Newbery Award. Every Newbery winner has that "moment of greatness, that touches your soul!!" DEAD END IN NORVELT does not have single defining moment. Think back to recent winners. Last year's MOON OVER MANIFEST, when a beloved character dies in war. Lucky from THE HIGHER POWER OF LUCKY (2007), when she comes to terms with her mother's death. Think of the soul stirring final chapter of THE GRAVEYARD BOOK (2009). When he not only says goodby to his friends, he says goodby to his life as he had known it. These books all had moments that touched my soul.

I found the modified swear words uncomfortable in an award winning book of this magnitude. The kids would immediately know the real words. I would never read this to my students.

Finally, what was up with those final two pages of the book? As someone who grew up at the movies, I was horrified when Jack and his father destroyed the community's movie screen with red paint. Poor little, Norvelt is dying and one of the last gathering places for the community is destroyed. What was that all about?

The designation of Dead End to Norvelt by Jack Gantos as historical fiction feels like a misnomer. The plot is so outrageous, the characters are so idiosyncratic, and the humorous style so often draws upon exaggeration. How can this be historical fiction? Indeed, most of the time I suspect you won’t even think about or remember this categorization. Instead, you’ll just enjoy the romp.

The type of historical fiction with which I am most familiar involves an author researching a time period or person with minimal connection to them except that the subject is of interest. Some classic examples would be offerings from Scott O’Dell or Elizabeth George Spear. Of late, I have been reading a type of historical fiction which is new to me. It is one which involves an author drawing upon the setting of their own childhood to write a story which may rely more or less upon real events from their own life to weave a tale. My first introduction to this format came from Gary Schmidt. This approach also describes the Norvelt books, a fact that I didn’t know at the time that I purchased them.

One thing I’ve noticed about this approach is that while readers are given clues which establish the setting, rarely is the setting blatantly stated. In novels which follow a more traditional approach, the jacket flap, the forward, or the first chapter almost immediately list the year in which events occur. Moreover, because the story often happens in an unfamiliar, remote, or faraway place, you instantly know it’s not your average realistic novel. In contrast, Dead End to Norvelt starts out with a young boy doing average stuff in an average American backyard at the start of what seems to be an average summer. No date is listed. Unless you count the main character’s obsession with war toys and movies, the first solid clue to the historical setting is a reference to John Glenn having orbited the earth earlier that winter. If you’re unfamiliar with space travel history, it might take you a few more references to historical people and events to figure out that the time is the 1960’s.

Why have I spent two paragraphs writing about this new approach? Because I am trying to figure out what I think about it. To be honest, I tend to get slightly taken back when several pages into a novel, I realize that the setting is different from what I expected. At the same time, I suspect the approach makes historical fiction more palpable. Not everyone likes historical fiction. And so this approach, which is a mix of autobiography and history and fiction, is akin to adding sugar to medicine. It may also allow authors more liberty to tell that story that they most desire to tell. The 1960s might help create the backdrop to Dead End to Norvelt, but the story of Jack being grounded, helping ailing neighbors, and developing an appreciation for his dying town is universal.

I’d be remiss if I ended my review without discussing what actually makes Dead End to Norvelt such a fun read. The plot could spiral into a boring fest of historical stories. Except Miss Volker always spices up the obituaries she writes with details that no one else takes the time to seek out. Moreover, those obituaries attract the attention of Hell’s Angels who are bent on revenge in the town. And, when those obituaries became a daily occurrence, it becomes apparent that murder is afoot. Jack could come off as a typical boy who doesn’t think enough about his actions. Except he has this quirk of getting nose bleeds whenever the least little thing startles him. And not just little ones. As a result, he never has any clean clothes. He also has this sympathetic blend of acting cowardly but wanting desperately to be a nice guy. And, finally, the style could slow the story to a snail’s pace. Or, just as bad, the style could feel so over the top that it wears one out. Gantos won me over with Jack’s sometimes awkward, sometimes mature, and always realistic adolescent narration.

Dead End to Norvelt is full of wisdom, heart, and laughs. It also has the “WOW” factor. In other words, besides being well-written, everything about Dead End to Norvelt pulls you into its pages and keeps you there until done. And, even days later, characters and incidents still come to memory. Dead End to Norvelt is a beautiful tribute to small towns everywhere, along with being an incredibly entertaining story.

Although at first glance, it's easy to believe that this is a book about nothing, or, at the very least, next to nothing. I mean, a kid, in a small (dying) town, is grounded indefinitely, and can only leave the house to visit his elderly neighbor, or work on digging a large hole.
That mistake could be forgiven, but couldn't be farther from the truth. Throughout the course of this story, we watch an irresponsible boy go through the process of becoming an adult, of being the responsible figure his life needs, requires. Jack, the character in the book, starts this story as a juvenile. He ends it as a full-fledged adult.
Of course, being caught in the middle of opposing forces who are all pushing and pulling and bargaining and blackmailing you to do their bidding can do that to a person. As well as becoming accustomed to dead bodies and writing about them.
The beauty of Jack's journey to adulthood may be the purpose of this story, but the key is the atmosphere. Gantos (the author) does an amazing job of capturing the emotion of 1960s small town America. Each word on the page serves to accomplish the goal perfectly. One can't help but picture each moment clearly in the mind as we travel along with Jack through the town.
And it's that perfect imagery that really brings this story to its golden point. Each image in this book, things like the old woman with melting hands, the old man on the tricycle, the kid mowing down the cornfield, they all read like the short stories of greats like Raymond Carver, made appropriate for a younger audience. They all play together in reaching the climactic (or...perhaps somewhat anti-climactic) scene of the novel, which is something I had always wished Carver could have done with his tales.
All in all, this is a great story to introduce children to in order to help prepare them for much grander pieces of literature. Something I think any young reader would greatly enjoy.

The protagonist, Jack Gantos, span of a few pages has angered his mother who grounds him for life or at the very least for the entire summer. Jack is steadfast that he is innocent of the crime but he just cannot prove it, he already suffers from frequent nosebleeds and the young boy is heartbroken but soon a wonderful opportunity presents itself from the most unlikely of places. Jack is soon involved with documenting the lives of the recently deceased while serving as the typist for the next door neighbor Miss Volker who happens to be the local obituary writer. Freed from his captivity to help his neighbor he learns about the history of the town and the debt that it owes to Elanor Roosevelt. Jack soon finds himself very busy as more and more older residents are dying, which keeps him busy helping to write their obituaries. He finds time for some other activities,going on patrol with his friend Bunny, the daugher of the owner of the funeral parlor who delights in telling him disgusting stories, his father's construction projects, and late ngiht patrols to protect the town from the Hell's Angels biker gang.

You will find yourself laughing at the actions of Jack and the odd cast of characters that make up this wonderful novel. The friendship between Jack and Miss Volker seems unlikely but is all the more touching as they become friends despite their difference in age. The real character is the town of Norvelt itself as it is brought to life by the stories of the residents. The town served as a sanctuary for those suffering during the American Great Depression, but the fortunes have waned as people have moved away and even the houses are being sold off as people leave for new opportunities. Many of the residents are defiant and continue to live up to the ideals that the town was founded on. Jack's mother personifies this as she labors to help those that she can. Her husband a veteran of World War II wants to leave and does not see the value of the town. He views the sense of community that the town was founded on as being Communist. Jack finds himself caught between his parents and is unsure as to what parent to follow. As the story ends you are left wondering what will happen to the town as it enters the hectic years of the 1960s.The author stated he based the story on his own childhood and I do wonder how much of this story is truly real, either way you will enjoy this wonderful novel!

As a recently appointed middle school librarian, I’ve been reading quite a bit of middle school fiction, which is different than YA fiction and, it turns out, just as appealing to adults. I laughed so hard reading Dead End in Norvelt that my husband nearly had to begin CPR on me. I went that long without being able to breathe. Seriously.

Dead End in Norvelt (Farrar, Straus, and Geroux, September 2011) was awarded the 2012 Newbery Medal for the year’s best contribution to children’s literature and the Scott O’Dell Award for Historical Fiction, and rightfully so: Jack Gantos is a fantastic writer. He can write a scene, drench it in history, spin it into action, and set in on a plate with a side of laughter. He can create believable, quirky characters that you root for with all your heart despite their oddities. Most of all, though, Gantos knows how to tell a good story, one that’s hard to put down, that keeps you up and night, and that makes you laugh.

Dead End in Norvelt is set in Norvelt, Pennsylvania in 1962. The book’s 12-year-old narrator (also coincidentally named Jack Gantos) has been grounded for the summer. There are only two reasons Jack can leave the house:
1.to help his father dig a bomb shelter in the back yard (by hand) and
2.to help his elderly, arthritic neighbor write obituaries for the town newspaper (which turns out to be an alarmingly busy task, as the older people in the bucolic town of Norvelt are dropping like flies.)

Despite those limiting factors (or because of them), Jack manages to have an action-packed summer, one punctuated by dramatic events, each event triggering an uncontrollable nosebleed in our not-as-tough-as-he-wishes-he-was narrator.

This book is not for the faint hearted – I recommended it to reluctant reader, in hopes that the fast moving plot line and frequent hilarity would entice him to read it. He returned it two days later. “Mrs. Rutten, I could not read this book. I have a gag reflex problem, and every time the main character had a nose bleed, I had to vomit.” He shook his head sadly and dropped it into the return bin.

Okay, so maybe this book isn’t for everybody. But most people, kids and adults alike, will love it.

Dead End in Norvelt by Jack Gantos. A (young) Young Adult book, but a great read, nonetheless! I probably would have never given this book a second glance, but I was in my Facebook book group last week, and found the lists a friend/fellow bibliophile had posted at the end of last school year of his favorite reads. This book was on his favorite standalone Young Adult books (great that he labeled the list “standalone” as it seems EVERYONE is writing series now. Also, this ended up not being a standalone after all, but I am anxious to read the sequel). Anyway…I was looking for something else, stumbled across the list, and then the next day, just happened to be in the library and saw it on an endcap. Yay!

Jack Gantos is a young boy in 1962 Norvelt, a small and dying town in Pennsylvania. Norvelt was named for Eleanor Roosevelt, who basically “founded” the town. She wanted families to have an equal chance at a home, but now 17 years after World War II, the town is dying. The book starts with Jack (Jackie) being grounded because he accidentally fired his father’s souvenir Japanese rifle. Jackie ends up getting on his mother’s bad side even more very quickly. Jackie is a bleeder – a nose bleeder – and this causes a great deal of undue stress on his mother.

When his mother decides he needs to help the neighbor down the street, Jackie is forced to see Norvelt in a different light. The neighbor is a feisty, elderly lady who is one of the original Norvelt citizens. She teaches Jackie much in the way of world history and in particular the proud history of their small town. Things take a somewhat dramatic turn when a motorcycle gang shows up in town. But even through the drama, Jackie and his neighbor are a funny couple. The mix between action and laughter leads to a very surprising conclusion.

This book was such a great read. It won both a Newberry Medal and an O’Dell Award for historical fiction. So glad I remembered his list when I saw it at the library. If you are looking for a light read, this is a great one to try.

This book successfully paints a detailed picture of small-town life in mid-century America. For those who like books that focus heavily on relationships and setting without emphasis on plot, this book might be suitable, but very little actually happens in "Dead End", aptly named.
The main character is grounded the entire summer, his few escapes used to write obituaries for one of Norvelt's last living original citizens; the reader feels equally grounded as the slow pacing and painful narration of the author, who is clearly not a voice actor, attempts to create distinct characters.
It has plenty of charm, very little action (in any sense of the word), and at times feels like a Grandpa Simpson rant, though the characters are lovingly written to fit within the quaint, sleepy town.
Not for me, but this book does have its moments. Had it been read by a real performer, it might have added a star to my review.

Reason for Reading: The book is this year's (2012) Newbery Medal winner and I always read each new winner as I'm working my way through the entire list. I had never read this author before.

Having never read Jack Gantos before, honestly I've never looked past the titles of the others, I didn't know what to expect from this award winning novel. I was very pleasantly pleased. While set in Pennsylvania (in the existing town of Norvelt) the book is written with a typical Southern flare including a cast of eccentric characters. The book is suitable for those tween years (10-14) and made for a very engaging read. Since the boy in the book is named Jack Gantos and the author bio on the back cover tells us Jack actually grew up in a town called Norvelt we can probably surmise that this tale contains some biographical elements of the author's own childhood.

A coming of age story, this book focuses on the summer a boy turns twelve, he has been grounded for a serious mishap for the entire summer. The motley cast of characters include his neighbour to whom his mother hires him out to help write the obituary's for the town's original settlers, Mrs. Volker is crippled with arthritis of the hands and has lived an exciting life which she shares with Jackie both through conversation and the obits. There is crazy old man Spizz, who is like the town's by-line enforcer and he rides around town on a giant adult tricycle. Jack's best friend, Bunny, a girl his age who is half his size and is meaner and tougher than almost any guy around is ticked off that Jack can't play at all this summer. With being grounded to his room, Jack spends a great deal of his time reading, having an old set of Landmark History books, he quickly reads through those and imparts what he's read and thought cool back to the reader. This really endeared him to me as I went through a period in my life in which I read all those books too.

Another thing about Jack, which some readers may find odd, but also endeared me to him right away is that he has numerous nosebleeds. His seem to come on whenever he gets uptight, nervous or scared. Then his nose blows a gaskets and bleeds everywhere. Medically the capillaries are too close to the surface in his nose and need to be cauterized but his poor family has to save up, very slowly, for this. I too had constant nose bleeds as a child and right up into my mid-twenties, for the exact same reason! Mine were brought on by climate changes. Hot/sunny one day, chilly/damp the next and I was sure to have a nose bleed. They occurred where ever I was: on the bus, in the movies, walking down the street, etc. I was told about the operation but my bleeds just gradually stopped when I moved to a much higher altitude and they've never returned even though I've returned to the low altitude.

This was my type of book, along with the quirky characters, add in a running theme of death, wry humour, a possible murder going on, strange events going on in his Dad's workshop, and you have an exciting, never dull story of a boy coming of age, of a town trying not to die, a family that loves one another and a place where neighbours still care for each other. A good read. I'm enticed to at least take look at Ganto's other books, now.

The book is written for children, perhaps ages 10-12, so I'll try to be fair for my review. On the other hand, I was surprised to learn it's a Newbery Medal winner so maybe it deserves a little bit of criticism.

Author Jack Gantos has a writing style I find descriptive and inviting. He has a flair for expressing silly and absurd moments without indulgence. Now the story itself is another matter and it has a few problems. The characters, for starters, are not likable. Eleven-year-old Jack is the most honest and endearing of the bunch, but in nearly every chapter he endures getting yelled at or scolded by those supposedly on his side. His mother, his elderly neighbor and his girlfriend all use him as a verbal punching bag. I guess it's meant to be cute. Didn't work for me. Jack's father might be one of the good guys too, but lacks enough redeemable qualities so he's a big question mark.

The ending too is somewhat controversial since the book is supposed to be for children. It's still worth reading, I say, so have a look and decide for yourself.

3.5 stars

An interesting story with a unique voice and cast of eccentric characters makes for an intriguing read. There's something about the quirkiness of the story that kept me reading it, when normally this style of writing isn't my thing. Dead End in Norvelt has this great mix of history, laugh out loud moments, and some entertaining characters. I was really drawn to the voice of twelve year old Jack, who's the only child to two constantly feuding parents, and lives in the small town of Norvelt, named after Eleanor Roosevelt. For some reason while reading this book I kept alternating between the voices of Napoleon Dynamite and Ralphie from A Christmas Story as the story's narrators in head. The story kind of has a similar feel to both of these movies. It's one part funny, one what "what the heck is going on" and one part intriguing that I couldn't put it down.

Set in what I believe is the early 1960's, the entire feel of the book matches that time period. From the way the characters act, the things they say, what they do and their mind set. Jack himself is a kid that just can't catch a break. He finds himself grounded for the summer after playing with some of his father's weapons from the war he fought in and for mowing down his mother's rows of corn so his father could build a bunker. I seriously grew frustrated with Jack's parents, especially since they're the cause of some of his poor choices. He literally got caught up between their feuding and both of them telling him to different things. He had to pick which parent he was going to disobey. Poor guy. His saving grace from being grounded is his elderly neighbor his mom sends him to help each morning, Miss Volker. She is hilarious and just calls it like she sees it.

Wrapped up into Jack's story is a old fashion murder mystery, the threat of the Hells Angels coming to down, a father who's anxious to get his bomb shelf built along with his run way for his war plane he's building and mother who's more worried about growing food and feeding the poor than what's going on with Jack. There's a lot that's wrapped up into this story, and I don't think my review will do this book justice. It's one you really have to pick up and read for yourself. It really felt like I was getting a glimpse to Jack's journal from growing up and the summer he learned an important life lesson. It's realistic, the humor in this book comes at all the right moments, and it's story with an important life lesson learned for Jack. It's truly a book that will be appealing to many ages and I can see why it's won both the Publisher's Weekly Best Children's Fiction and Horn's Best Fiction Books in 2011, and was announced at last weekend's ALA winner for the John Newbery Medal.

I enjoyed Jack Gantos' reading of "Dead End in Norvelt." There's something inherently special about hearing the author read their own book. They are familiar with the rhythm of the story and what does or does not matter in a delivery. This book, based on Gantos as a young boy, blurs the line between memoir and fiction. That doesn't bother me, my dad used to do that all of the time.

This is listed for young readers, but it's more of a quaint small town murder mystery for older kids if anything. There is a body count and two parents who bicker about social responsibility in the dawn of the New Deal era (Norvelt is a hybrid of EleaNOR and RooseVELT). Young Jack Gantos gets forced into helping dictate obituaries from an old lady with arthritis, Mrs. Volker. She is about as stern and sarcastic as the rest of the adults in the town of Norvelt and her preachy tangents during these obituaries gets heavy-handed at times ("Need I remind everyone that on this day, 500 years ago..."). Gantos feeds you many reasons to dislike the people around him, but he seems to bend to all forms of authority without ever receiving thanks for what he does.

His father assembles an airplane himself and flies it crazily around the sky, giving his mother a fit. I could have sworn this was building up to something. But I guess it was just a noisy metaphor for wanting to get out of town.

Also, the front of the package says there is an interview with Jack Gantos on disc six. Uh, no such thing existed on my copy. The story ended and that was that, no interview.

I am a middle school language arts teacher who frequently reads Newbery winners as I am always looking for new books to incorporate into my literature curriculum. After reading this book, I felt that I had to warn other teachers. I feel strongly that this book makes a mockery of death, and I found the references to dead people as "stiffs" to be disgusting rather than humorous. If, like me, your hope is to teach your students to value and celebrate human life, this is definitely NOT the book for you. I also found the book to be terribly irreverent in its references to anything related to religion or morality. I suggest that you skip this book. I am deeply disappointed that anyone would consider this to be an excellent piece of young adult fiction.

I enjoyed Jack Gantos' reading of "Dead End in Norvelt." There's something inherently special about hearing the author read their own book. They are familiar with the rhythm of the story and what does or does not matter in a delivery. This book, based on Gantos as a young boy, blurs the line between memoir and fiction. That doesn't bother me, my dad used to do that all of the time.

This is listed for young readers, but it's more of a quaint small town murder mystery for older kids if anything. There is a body count and two parents who bicker about social responsibility in the dawn of the New Deal era (Norvelt is a hybrid of EleaNOR and RooseVELT). Young Jack Gantos gets forced into helping dictate obituaries from an old lady with arthritis, Mrs. Volker. She is about as stern and sarcastic as the rest of the adults in the town of Norvelt and her preachy tangents during these obituaries gets heavy-handed at times ("Need I remind everyone that on this day, 500 years ago..."). Gantos feeds you many reasons to dislike the people around him, but he seems to bend to all forms of authority without ever receiving thanks for what he does.

His father assembles an airplane himself and flies it crazily around the sky, giving his mother a fit. I could have sworn this was building up to something. But I guess it was just a noisy metaphor for wanting to get out of town.

Also, the front of the package says there is an interview with Jack Gantos on disc six. Uh, no such thing existed on my copy. The story ended and that was that, no interview.

I am a middle school language arts teacher who frequently reads Newbery winners as I am always looking for new books to incorporate into my literature curriculum. After reading this book, I felt that I had to warn other teachers. I feel strongly that this book makes a mockery of death, and I found the references to dead people as "stiffs" to be disgusting rather than humorous. If, like me, your hope is to teach your students to value and celebrate human life, this is definitely NOT the book for you. I also found the book to be terribly irreverent in its references to anything related to religion or morality. I suggest that you skip this book. I am deeply disappointed that anyone would consider this to be an excellent piece of young adult fiction.

This funny story, set in 1962 and featuring anytown USA as the backdrop to Jack's summer of interesting events. Jack gets in big trouble and ends up finding his great summer plans placed on hold while he is grounded by his mother (for something his father made him do). However, he is enlisted to help a wacky old neighbor, Miss Volker, type the town's obituaries and run them to the newspaper. This wacky neighbor is one of the best characters in the book with a no nonsense, sarcastic sense of humor.

So as Jack's summer continues, it unveils into a wacky, funeral home, crazy underage driving, nose bleeding, rat poison story. I enjoyed listening as did my 7 year old (who loved the scene with the wax melting off Miss Volker's hands and how Jack thinks her hands are melting). I found a lot of the narration (done very well by the author) funny and witty. I thought the hunting scene with Jack trying so hard to let out an SBD to scare off the dear his dad wants him to shoot was hilarious and probably reminiscent of many young men who aren't ready to begin hunting but are indoctrinated into the sport by their hardened fathers.

The story got a little odd at the end but overall was very fun to listen to and laugh with.

It took me awhile to even get interested in listening to this book on CD. I found the authors voice and tempo rather dreary and almost whiney. I guess it kind of went along with the story time frame (50's or 60's) and topics, but as for listening enjoyment it was fairly unstimulating. Eventually I began to get the plot, that there wasn't much of a story at all, just a dialogue of a family, small town life, obiturary entries (with personal, town, and history tidbits included) and a very simple little story about how a preteen boy spent part of his Summer in between punishments. I listened to it for the sake of passing the time while I was driving, but never felt invested. I think I was hoping for more action and more stimulation, but this was just going to be a simple little story. Now, that doesn't mean that it was bad or necessarily lacking, just that I thought it was only "Ok". My 10 and 11 year old boys listened to quite a bit of the book along with me, however (for two voracious readers) they also never seemed to get very interested in the story line as well. I'm not sure who would like this book, though I think only the younger preteen group would find it appealing.

Norvelt, a small community in Pennsylvania, is the setting for Jack Gantos's "Dead End in Norvelt". Jack was a twelve year old boy who was grounded for the summer. Despite being confined to his room, he managed to get into scrapes with his elderly neighbor, Ms. Volker, for whom he was transcribing obituaries. Ms. Volker took care of the town as best she could, because of a promise made to Eleanor Roosevelt. Meanwhile, his best friend was freaking out that he was grounded, his father was rebuilding an airplane, more old people were dying than should have been, and an old man on a tricycle has it in for Jack. Oh yeah: Jack's nose bled at the smallest sign of stress, and the Hells Angels came to town.

This is an exciting story that will be much enjoyed by kids aged 10-14 who are sick of vampire stories and who want to read something a little closer to home. While I figured out the mystery long before Jack realized that there WAS a mystery, I still enjoyed the disc-a-day that I allotted to "Dead End in Norvelt". Gantos told an exciting story that I really enjoyed, even though I'm decades beyond the target age.

Jack Gantos is the perfect narrator for his own work. This book is partly autobiographical, partly fiction, and totally wacky. We received a review copy of the audiobook from Macmillan Audio and from the onset, I knew only that it was a Newbery Award winner and that Norvelt was the name of the town in which the main character lived, so basically nothing. (It also won the Scott O'Dell Award For Historical Fiction) I enjoyed Gantos' voice acting but I couldn't put my finger on what it was about his voice that kept making me say to myself, "I've never heard anyone with a voice like his read an audiobook. What is it about his voice?" And then it came to me like a brick to my head--my extremely embarrassed head, that is. He's from western Pennsylvania! He totally sounds like my childhood and relatives. I am seriously so embarrassed about my lack of pickup on this one. I sauntered up to my parents and said, "So, have you two ever heard of Norvelt?" and they both were like, "Of course! That's right near Mt. Pleasant!" *facepalm* Long story only semi-shortened, my father grew up at the same time as Jack Gantos in a town twenty minutes north of Norvelt. (Greensburg) My mother, same deal but half an hour northwest. (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. 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. (Let's hear it for the western PA tradition of getting the first day of hunting season off of school!)

The story of Dead End in Norvelt is one we've heard before, but with a few twists. Eleven or twelve-year old Jack ends up grounded for the entire summer because he disobeys his mother by listening to his father. (I felt awful that he was grounded for the whole summer because of his parents' disagreement!) The only place Jack is allowed to go is his elderly neighbor's house to help her write obituaries for the town newspaper because her arthritic hands don't allow her to have a lot of mobility. Mrs. Volker, the old woman, is one crazy character in a cast so quirky that they must be based loosely on people Mr. Gantos has known throughout his life. There is an old man who rides a huge adult tricycle around town, an ex-postmistress who plasters her walls with undeliverable mail, and even Jack himself, who gets a nosebleed every time he gets excited, scared, surprised, or, well, anything at all. (I read that the nosebleeds were a fact of young Gantos' life) While most of the story reads like an enjoyable middle-grade memoir, there is a potential murder mystery integrated into the book, as well as Hells Angels wreaking havoc at a few points, and some plot points about Girl Scouts. (I'm glad I had some Tagalongs to munch on during the week or so I listened to this book. All it takes is one mention of Girl Scout cookies and I get a craving. Side note: does anyone else wonder if the secret ingredient is cocaine? Juuuust kidding.)

I think I just love middle grade tales of everyday life. Movies like The Sandlot and My Girl, as well as books like When You Reach Me and The Wednesday Wars. Sure, there are other events occurring in the plots of those books and movies but they are basically just about what's going on in the life of one young person, or a group of young people. The slight difference in Dead End in Norvelt, and it is one I really enjoyed, was the injection of more history. Norvelt was its own character and it was so interesting to hear different characters weighing in on their feelings about the town fading away, people moving away or dying, and whether or not they should fight to continue the values on which the town was based. For those who never plan to read this book (or listen to it, which I recommend), Norvelt was built up by the federal government after the Depression to house out-of-work coal miners and their families. The town was/is named for EleaNOR RooseVELT and after listening to small tidbits peppered throughout the book, I went to read up more on the history of the town. As someone whose favorite time period in American history to learn about is the New Deal era, this book and the subsequent Wikipedia articles it inspired me to go and read were like a pleasant treat.

This book isn't for everyone and I can understand why the ratings and reviews are all over the place. This is a book about a young boy--there is a gratuitously long section about farting while hunting. Necessary? Heck no, but definitely realistic for boys that age to be talking/thinking about. Sensational at parts? Again, yes, but that's part of the overall feeling of the novel. If even half of the events happened and even a quarter of those people existed, Jack Gantos had a hugely eventful childhood. Or at least one hilarious and memorable summer.

Dead End in Norvelt won the Newbery this week. It's a done deal; I read every Newbery.

The book came in for me at the library yesterday and I immediately started to read.

What a yummy book. Hilariously funny in a Richard Peck-ish, A Christmas Story-ish kind of way. You've got your main character, a boy Jack Gantos imaginatively names Jack Gantos, living in a town named Norvelt, the town Gantos actually grew up in, in the early sixties, who manages to shoot off a Japanese rifle from WWII and get himself grounded for the entire summer. His parents only give him dispensation to help out an arthritic old lady with her obituary writing for the paper. But this kid somehow, during the course of this summer, meets up with the Hells Angels, a funeral home, murders, digs a bomb shelter, drops water balloons from a vintage plane, gets his blood-dripping nose cauterized, and writes the most incredibly interesting obituaries I've ever seen.

Crazy-funny.

If kids would give this book a chance, they would discover a book doesn't have to have Hobbits or vampires or kids riding broomsticks to be entertaining. If Jack's adventures are unrealistic, (driving a car at age 12 for example) they are still in the realm of possibility in the natural world. Jack Gantos has a rare ability to remember what it was like to be a kid, His description parents who fight their battles by giving a kid contradictory instructions on purpose is a good lesson for the no-win situations we will all encounter someday. As for inappropriate content, go ahead and warn them, it's the best way to get a kid to read a book. I don't think kids need censorship. If a book is beyond them, they will not be interested, If they are interested, it's time for them to read it. Too many YA authors try to trick kids that they are reading something forbidden by including stuff about boogers, farts, or underwear.
Jack's history lessons are easy to take, you're through them before you realize you are in one. And they are lessons most elementary history courses miss. (Guess by a non teacher)
A note to kids (and grownups) on writing a review: People who give 5 star reviews signal that this is the only book they ever read, or that they are being paid for the review, or they are the author's mother. One star reviews are cop outs that never give substantial reasons or they complain that there's peanut butter on the pages. Nobody reads these. Two and four star reviews are best because they require the reviewer to mention something good and something bad.. They can be very helpful.

This book was written for young adults but I found it quite entertaining. The summer the main character, Jack Gantos, turns 12 is an odd summer one to say the least. Every single character in this book is odd and quirky in some way. Jack is grounded for the summer for doing something his father told him to do and his mother told him not to do. The only thing he is allowed to do is work for a quirky old neighbor lady who lives nearby, writing obituaries for her as she speaks them aloud. Apparently the little old ladies in town are dropping like flies and there is much writing to be done! There really are no surprises here in the book even though it does turn out to be a mystery of sorts. I didn't much care for how the ending was so abrupt, but the story itself made up for that.

Cleverly written, this is a fun book to read and I do recommend it to young teens or anyone for that matter.

`Dead end in Norvelt' is a semi-autobiographical and semi-fictionalized story about a boy, Jack Gantos, who spends his entire summer grounded. He is volunteered by his mother to help a elderly neighbor. He becomes her typist as she dictates obituaries of the original Norvelt residents. Jack eventually looks forward to helping her each day, not only as a way to get out of the house but, also because he is deeply interested in the stories she has to tell. The story develops to tell some very funny and far-fetched stories: a dancing plague, a conspiracy, Hell's Angels. This is one odd and memorable summer for Gantos. In the end, this book was really about a town and the stories it had to tell.

The book is actually very interesting, especially for the age it is intended. I am sure pre-teens will find this book very entertaining and comedic. I caught myself laughing out loud a few times. I did not like the abruptness of the ending but, i guess most things were resolved by then.

The books is very well narrated by its author, Jack Gantos, and he really draws you into the story. He pauses in all the right moments to built up suspense, he whines the right amount for a child and he makes you laugh with this audiobook.

The narrator and main character of this tale is Jack Gantos, who also happens to be the author. According to his website, this book combines truth and fiction, so I imagine some of the story is autobiographical.

Jack begins the summer of 1962 playing with a Japanese rifle his father brought home from World War II. When the gun accidentally goes off, Jack is in trouble. That trouble is made more serious when he plows over his mother's corn fields (which are intended to provide food for the poor) at his father's direction. Thus, Jack ends up grounded--until a neighbor calls and needs help writing an obituary. At this point, some background on the town is necessary.

The town, Norvelt (Pennsylvania), is named after Eleanor Roosevelt and traces its history to an attempt to provide decent homes and living conditions for the poor. Most of the original residents are, at the start of the story, no longer living in the town (or no longer living at all). The woman whom Jack goes to help is one of the originals. She is also the town's medical examiner and the obituary writer. As it happens, she also promised, long ago, to marry one of the other originals when they are the only two left. As the story progresses, it begins to appear that they just might end up as the last two remaining originals before long. The others begin to die at a very fast pace.

This summary, however, barely scratches the surface of the events in this book. For example, there is the fact that Jack has a nose that bleeds quite often. There is the group of Hell's Angels who arrive and start to cause trouble. There's Jack's best friend's father, who happens to be the mortician. And there are Girl Scout cookies, numerous history lessons, and much more.

Overall, the story lacks a clear focus. Toward the end, it became a bit of a mystery. Who put the bullet in the rifle Jack fires? Who, if anyone, is causing the older citizens to die? Until that point, though, the story seems somewhat aimless. This is not to say it isn't amusing. It is. But there seems to be no driving force other than Jack's grounding. The authentic just-post-'50s feel of the book and the characters keep the story rolling along, though.

There are a few things parents might want to know in advance. There are frequent uses of a derogatory term to refer to the Japanese, and there is a scene in which an animal dies, a rather graphic scene at that. (This last point is entirely in keeping with the narrator's character, though, as he is upset by the scene.) For listeners (as I was provided with the audiobook version), the author does the narration and generally does well.

This review is for the audiobook version.

Dead End in Norvelt is read by the author. Sometimes this doesn't work. Example, Stephen King's voice does not do justice to his novels & it simply doesn't sound right. Regarding Jack Ganto's novel, his voice is perfect. It's kind of high & certainly boy-ish. While listening I was surprised by the occasional pauses in the wrong spot ruining the flow. I wouldn't expect the author to do that to his own book! The good thing is they are not overly noticeable. It is very possible that I was sensitive to them at the time because the book I listened to before this had a terrible narrator who paused, sped up, slowed down almost always at the wrong time & it flat out ruined the book.

Anyway...

I was unsure on how I wanted to go about reviewing this because there is nothing that really stands out about it. It's odd because I enjoyed listening to it but I could easily forget about it. It is funny & quirky & believable to a certain extent. In part it is even a little sad. The slow death of a little town built on hopes & dreams. Hence the title. Most of the townspeople gave up on Norvelt & were looking to bigger brighter things. Staying in Norvelt was staying to fail; to go nowhere in life. This is the backdrop for the story.

Our main character gets himself into all sorts of completely innocent trouble that makes you feel for the little guy. "Not again!" you think, he was just doing what he was told. Or, "He was just trying to do the right thing." Or, "It was an accident!" While the townsfolk have their own dramas going on our main character has his. Totally at the whim of the adults around him, his life is shifted about. Unknowingly he is thick in the middle of a mystery surrounding the town. All the elderly townspeople are dying. At first it seems normal enough - they are old after all! But soon the matter starts to get investigated as the original residents of the town die off one by one a little to quickly to be considered normal.

I'm not sure if this book would be interesting enough to the younger reader. It feels geared more towards adults though I could be wrong. I don't want to say too much & ruin it for anyone so I will stop here.

Well, apparently a lot of people liked this book, because it won the Newbery Medal. Personally, I didn't think it was THAT great and it certainly didn't deserve a prestigious award like the Newbery. Not at all. There are way better books that could have won it. But anyway, here's what the jacket said about the story: "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. But plenty of excitement (and shocks) are coming Jack's way once his mom loans him out to help a feisty old neighbor with a most unusual chore--typewriting obituaries filled with stories about the people who founded his utopian town. As one obituary leads to another, Jack is launched on a strange adventure involving molten wax, Eleanor Roosevelt, twisted promises, a homemade airplane, Girl Scout cookies, a man on a trike, a dancing plague, voices from the past, Hells Angels . . . and possibly murder. Endlessly surprising, this sly, sharp-edged narrative is the author at his very best, making readers laugh out loud at the most unexpected things in a dead-funny depiction of growing up in a slightly off-kilter place where the past is present, the present is confusing, and the future is completely up in the air." I didn't find it all that funny; nosebleeds and dead bodies aren't exactly my idea of hilarious.

I think this was mostly fiction, though some of it may be based on Jack Ganto's real childhood. I find it highly unrealistic, however, that Jack's parents could be so mean to him throughout the book. Especially his mom. And then the next day, they would turn around and be really kind and totally spoil him. It seems like books about a kid in a small town in the 1960s with a strange mystery/adventure involving weird clues always win the Newbery Award. Moon Over Manifest, a Newbery winner, which I loved by the way, is very similar to this book, except the protagonist is a girl. And the book is much better. I just didn't like the characters all that much in the book. And the history lessons thrown in were weird. Interesting, but weird. They didn't quite fit in.

*You can read all of my reviews at my book review blog, [...]*

Description: Dead End in Norvelt is about a historical town named after Eleanor Rooseevelt which was built for the elderly to live out the rest of their years in peace. The story is about an 11 year old boy named Jack Gantos (after the author) and how he has to solve a mystery with the elderly obituary writer, Miss Volker. The duo visits the homes of the newly passed on and gather evidence in hopes of getting to the bottom as to why the death rate sky-rockets in Norvelt.

4/5: I thought the book was quite good. I felt it might be a little long for an elementary school student (340 pages), although it is a rather simplistic read. I love the historical context of the town and how Miss Volker emphasis's the impotence of history. As someone who has a degree in History, I could really get behind creating a story that can inspire kids to get into this subject more.

Jack Gantos, the main character of this novel which also bears much truth, is caught between his parents, who each ground him for what the other asks him to do. He lives in a small town, Norvelt, which was formed in Pennsylvania by Eleanor Roosevelt as a utopian community, but it's 1962. "School was finally out and I was standing on a picnic table in our backyard getting ready for a great summer vacation when my mother walked up to me and ruined it." (1) His Mom enlists him to help write with Miss Volker who is the medical examiner/ retired nurse/ obituary writer who writes literary, florid, historical obituaries for the original residents of Norvelt, who do seem to be dying in a flurry.

This was a great book with interesting characters and relationships that culminated in an unexpected ending. I am a parent and teacher and the puritan reviewers opposed to faux cursing and "mass murder" are out of touch with what real children are reading, listening to, seeing in movies and talking about at school. Appreciate the story for what it is and that is a lovely story about a boy who develops a special friendship with an elderly neighbor, the ups and downs of family life, small town politics and a slice of Americana in the 60s. I recommend for the middle grade reader on up and younger, mature readers to partner read with an adult. There are many opportunities in the story to converse about good decision making, gossip, safety, etc.

I listened to this while driving a rather lengthy drive. It is always such a pleasure to listen to an author read his or her own stuff when they have a great story telling voice. Jack Gantos is a born story teller in all senses of that word. He has great emotion and a wonderful voice. I quite enjoyed hearing about the great adventures that happened upon a grounded boy. The folks come alive in the telling of this story and I was charmed completely!
If you have avoided audio recordings of a book, don't skip out on this one. It was such a joy, I may do it again!

This rambling tale of yesteryear contains a whole lot of blood. The main character has constant nosebleeds whenever he's afraid, and he's afraid for almost all of the book. There's also a deer death and a home-brewed operation, and probably some other blood-based scenes I'm blacking out, too. There's just a lot of blood in this book.

It's also not very tightly-written. For example, the main love interest (a young girl) has way too much time in the book for being such a flat character, and this book turned into more of just random memoirs than a cohesive story. I think the goal of the book is to get kids to read by giving them sensational stories sprinkled with history, and it does that goal okay, but I generally like a better crafted story.

Pros:
+Some kids think that blood is cool, so those kids might be drawn to this book
+Jack Gantos is an awesome audio book reader, and I really liked listening to his excited voice when I listened to the audio
+Cleverly includes a lot of random tidbits of history, since the main character is fascinated by history books
+Gives a lot of details about what Norvelt, Pennsylvania used to be like

Cons:
-Too much blood
-For this book being semi-autobiographical, it has way too many fantastic elements (mainly the ending)
-Doesn't develop the girl he has a crush on at all
-Both the author and the main character are Jack Gantos, and it seems the past has grown much more vivid and exciting with time
-The moral (last paragraph) of this story is to learn from history, but it never really explains how we're supposed to do that

When I taught middle-school reading to students with special needs, I used many of Gantos' other novels and my students responded positively.

I'm sure they would respond just as positively to this book, but I'm not sure they would have always understood the humor or odd thigns that happen with little to no explanation (I.e., why is a person with terrible arthritis and clawed fingers still medical examiner?). In terms of reading level, the books hits the mark and would be easy for a younger young adult to understand.

Do funny things happen? Of course (it's a Gantos book, after all). Does the book contain many odd twists and turns? Yes. Is the "mystery" that unfolds really a mystery? Technically, yes, but it's also easily figured out before the end reveal.

Jack Gantos delivers another gem! Dead-End in Norvelt has memorable characters including the spunky Miss Volker the town medical examiner/obituary writer and a unique story line. The book is filled with hilarious moments, touching scenes and some historical facts about post-Depression Norvelt PA. It is appropriate for upper elementary to early high school in my opinion. For a complete review please see my book blog [...]

This book had some interesting and quirky characters, an interesting setting, and many of the scenes were fun to read. It didn't seem to be a full story however. It seemed like the book needed to be a little longer and some of the story lines filled out a bit more, and maybe resolved more fully at the end. And the main character and his constant nosebleed got annoying at times.

Still, it was an enjoyable book to read. I would probably give it 3 1/2 stars if the store allowed that rating.

Good literature owes its readers two things: to make their lives better and not to waste their time. Dead End in Norvelt fails on both. It had no point, plot, action, or believable themes. The author started an element about the Hell's Angels and let it drop; it served no point in the story. The book lost its credibility for me when no one investigated two blatantly illegal acts: a 12-year-old repeatedly drove a car recklessly through town and his father dive bombed houses in a restored airplane. The characters were never likable; I didn't care if they succeeded or failed. The near-constant nosebleeds were annoying and boring. The vandalism at the end of the story made me question if the author's goal was to promote juvenile delinquency.

This book forever tarnishes the prestige of the Newbery award for me. American children's literature has reached a sorry state if this was the best example of the genre in 2011. I am saddened that some librarians will direct children to this book merely because it won the Newbery; it's not worthy of a spot on the shelf with past winners. In and of itself, this isn't a HORRIBLE book, it's just not Newbery-worthy.

Aside from featuring a terrifically fun story, the vocal delivery on the CD makes for fun listening. It can keep a carload of otherwise texting and restless kids caught up, and the story is fun for the grownups, too. Recommended.

Dead End In Norvelt is great for everybody! I highly recomend it to people. It is an easy read, great for over the weekend. Though it is an easier book than most, it is not like a kindergarden read. 5 stars!