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It's Never too Early to Start...
By Kristen · 214 posts · 780 views
By Kristen · 214 posts · 780 views
last updated Jan 02, 2014 08:10AM
What Members Thought
I got impatient with this about halfway through. Occasional moments of clever brilliance, but Newbery-wise, I can't see this standing out in a field that includes Okay For Now. Also, the punk kid with quirky elderly neighbor plot ought to be locked in the vault for the next ten years or so.
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So the main character, Jack, is grounded for the summer and since it's the 60's he can get away with playing with guns, driving a car without a license, and disobeying his parents. I liked the device of using someone's obituary to coincide with other things that happened on the same day--I didn't like the "poetic license" the author takes with the facts and the editorializing of historical events with a certain slant on said facts. Maybe the children who read this will be compelled to look up t
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Feb 20, 2012
Karen Gibson
rated it
it was amazing
Shelves:
historical-fiction,
2012-112-book-project
This year's Newbery Award winning, DEAD END IN NORVELT doesn't disappoint. Many Newbery books need to be promoted by parents/teachers in order for kids to enjoy them. This book, by Jack Gantos, speaks for itself. The history that carries this book makes you want to do research and find more, but the story is definitely not lost in the history. Most appropriate for upper elementary and middle school.
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I found this a little slow to start, but I ended up enjoying it. I am surprised that it won the Newbery - I wouldn't say it was the best book of the year - but it had plenty of laugh out loud moments. I read some of this and listened to some of it on audio, and I have to say that Gantos as the reader really added to my enjoyment of the book.
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Hmmm. Had to read this in a hurry b/c of the Newbery. I had just finished OK for Now, and see a lot of similarities in the books. However I liked OK for Now MUCH better. Darn Newbery committee...
You've got to listen to this one on audio if you're an audiobook fan, because listening to Jack Gantos read you the story of Jack Gantos is perfection. His voice is quirky and distinctive and serves to highlight all the black humor. The cover does this a disservice, because the story is dark and funny and a bit rambling, but filled with a fascinating sense of history and place and childhood. The whole thing is awash in nosebleeds and dead old ladies, with some fantastic obituaries and an appeara
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This book is perfect for 9-13 year old boys. It has a lot of slap-stick like humor and laugh-out-loud funny and eccentric characters. It does have fake swearing that is odd. It is Dave Barry like humor for a younger crowd. I love how history is interwoven in the book.
While I enjoyed Jack's interactions with Miss Volker, nothing else hung together for me. Echoes of Peck's A Year Down Yonder kept coming to mind and in comparison, this one fell way short.
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This was a fast read, but in trying to be quirky and funny, it ended up being weird and morbid. I wasn't really impressed with this one, especially considering it's a Newbery winner.
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2012 Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction
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Nov 04, 2011
Rachel
marked it as to-read
Jan 23, 2012
Sarah
rated it
it was ok
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review of another edition
Shelves:
audio,
children-historical
Jan 23, 2012
alisonwonderland (Alison)
marked it as to-read
Jan 24, 2012
Astrid Lim
marked it as wishlist
Apr 20, 2012
Shelley
marked it as to-read
Jul 10, 2012
Katieb (MundieMoms)
rated it
really liked it
Shelves:
mundie-moms-review,
2012-reading-challenge
