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Dead End in Norvelt - Jack Gantos
Dead End in Norvelt
by: (author)
3.52 145
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! Melding the entirely true and the wildly fictional, Dead End in Norvelt is a novel about an incredible two months for a kid... show more
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! 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 fiesty 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 launced 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.  
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Format: hardcover
ISBN: 9780374379933 (0374379939)
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Pages no: 341
Edition language: English
Series: Norvelt (#1)
Bookstores:
Community Reviews
MikeDI
MikeDI rated it
3.0 Dead End in Norvelt
It was okay.
A Reading Vocation
A Reading Vocation rated it
3.0 Book 61/100: Dead End in Norvelt by Jack Gantos
I think middle-grade historical fiction just isn't really my thing.Although this is well-written and is obviously meant to be humorous, I'm afraid it didn't make me laugh. It felt like it relied a lot on its "voice" and a sense of atmosphere, since anything resembling a plot didn't start to emerge u...
YA Fanatic
YA Fanatic rated it
5.0 Dead End in Norvelt Book Review
Written by Jack Gantos. Read by Jack Gantos. About Jack Gantos. I think he likes to talk about himself. An enjoyable humorous/adventure story about Gantos' childhood. As he turns twelve, Jack's summer is officially over, his mother has grounded him for life. Only allowing him out to help their fri...
Admitted Dilettante
Admitted Dilettante rated it
3.0 Dead End in Norvelt
Newbery? Really?
Bashara Likes Books
Bashara Likes Books rated it
4.0 Dead End in Norvelt
Gosh, I'm having a hard time thinking of what to say about this book. When I put it down last night after finishing it I thought to myself, "Well that was really enjoyable. I liked it a lot, but I'm not sure I loved it." But I've been thinking about it most of today and I think I really do love it. ...
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