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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
It's the summer of 1962, and the plans Jack Gantos has for a few months of fun are shot down by his mother. He ends up grounded for obeying his father's instructions to mow down his mother's corn crop so that he can create a runway for a small plane and a bomb shelter. Jack turns 12 over the course of the book, and while the set-up for the story makes it clear that he lives in the decidely strange town of Norvelt, named for Eleanor Roosevelt, the town's elderly citizens all seem to have had sati
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I adored this book, and was sorry when it was over. Somewhere (twitter? titletalk? a listserv?) I heard a recommendation for the audio book, read by Gantos, and was so glad that I experienced it that way. Even the title works on so many different levels. I was a huge proponent for Okay for Now for the Newbery, but I can now see why this won. There are interesting parallels between the two books: male main character in the '60's, important relationship with a much-older non-family member who impa
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It's summer vacation and Jack is grounded. He narrates the goings on of a small town in PA where he helps the town historian write obits for the local paper. These are not your run of the mill obits though, these death notices are rich with history. Each is a gem, unique in its depiction of the person in focus and the spotlight on a historical event. A string of deaths lead citizens to wonder what's behind the many passings among the original Norvelters. I won't wreck the surprise by revealing t
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This book is equal parts mystery, historical fiction, and humor. Jack, the main character, is grounded from everything for the summer because he tore up his mother's corn field (but his father told him to). The only thing he is allowed to do is help his elderly neighbor write obituaries. These obituaries are little history lessons and unique tributes to the lives of the original residents of Norvelt. You may come to notice that more and more Norvelt residents are dying, and that is where the mys
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Jack Gantos named the main character after himself, but this is not the life story of the author, it is a work of fiction peppered with seemingly random historical anecdotes. Poor young Jack has chronic nosebleeds, and ends up receiving a punishment at the beginning of summer vacation that has him stuck at home digging a bomb shelter, released only to help an elderly neighbor compose somewhat surreal obituaries.
The story is fairly quick paced and the historical anecdotes are brief and amusing. W ...more
The story is fairly quick paced and the historical anecdotes are brief and amusing. W ...more
Ever have a night where you hit the booze too hard, start writing a novel, put down a bunch of nonsense until you pass out, and in the morning you kinda forgot what you wrote but you pick up where you left off and keep writing? Me either, but I bet all the baby boomers' pensions that Jack Gantos used this technique to write the turd that is Dead End in Norvelt.
Loaded with sentimental schmaltz, corny jokes written for reminiscing seniors, a narrative that endures until the end of the reader's pa ...more
Loaded with sentimental schmaltz, corny jokes written for reminiscing seniors, a narrative that endures until the end of the reader's pa ...more
I tried. I'm sorry. Surprised that the wonderful Okay for Now was passed over for the 2012 Newbery, I dug deeply into Dead End in Norvelt looking for the reason it won but I came up empty-handed. Oh, it's an excellent book which earned the five stars I'm giving it. It's fun, it has artistic merit, and it includes the kind of flawed narrator I want to see more often in children's fiction. The similarity to Okay doesn't end at their covers: it continues through inserted material which makes both "
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3.5 Stars
At all times a pleasant read, this book gives a slice-of-life of American small town childhood in the early 1960s. However, it is an exaggerated, eccentric slice of life. It feels like a collection of remembrances and anecdotes of the type one often hears from professional storytellers, strung together into a book-length narrative. The characters and the town itself are richly rendered in the book, and over time spent reading I became so enveloped in the world of the book that it did ...more
At all times a pleasant read, this book gives a slice-of-life of American small town childhood in the early 1960s. However, it is an exaggerated, eccentric slice of life. It feels like a collection of remembrances and anecdotes of the type one often hears from professional storytellers, strung together into a book-length narrative. The characters and the town itself are richly rendered in the book, and over time spent reading I became so enveloped in the world of the book that it did ...more
"'Let me show you,' I said. I grabbed Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo, flipped it open, shoved my face into the gutter of the book, and inhaled deeply through my stuffed-up nose. When I lifted my face from the book I swooned and said dreamily, 'Ahhh, that was a good one. Now you do it.'
She reluctantly grabbed Custer's Last Stand, flipped it open, and stuck her little curled-up cashew-size nose into the gutter. She gave it a good sniff, then dropped the book and staggered against my dresser. 'History,' ...more
She reluctantly grabbed Custer's Last Stand, flipped it open, and stuck her little curled-up cashew-size nose into the gutter. She gave it a good sniff, then dropped the book and staggered against my dresser. 'History,' ...more
The historian in me sent my fingers flying to see if Novelt was a real. It was, and is!! Several memorable characters in this book, especially the dad and Mrs. Volker, and because of my interest in their roles in the story, I never got caught up in the mystery.
It is the summer of 1962-63 and Dad is restoring an old plane which he intends to use to fly to Florida and escape Norvelt, which he thinks is a "commie" town. Meanwhile, Mrs. Volker is documenting the deaths of the original "Norveltians" ...more
It is the summer of 1962-63 and Dad is restoring an old plane which he intends to use to fly to Florida and escape Norvelt, which he thinks is a "commie" town. Meanwhile, Mrs. Volker is documenting the deaths of the original "Norveltians" ...more
I was put off somewhat by the humor. I didn't think an accidental shooting of a loaded rifle was funny even if nobody got hurt. I also got tired of the constant nose bleeds and the obits were not that interesting to me. I did like the writing stlye. Quite a crazy book.
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I'm in shock that this novel won the Newbery Award for 2012. I found it disappointing at all levels. Every plot point seemed under-developed and eventually fizzled out without ever having a proper conclusion. I kept reading on the faith that this book won the award for a reason and would redeem itself eventually. But in the end, especially the final page I found it completely disappointing. As an adult I did not enjoy this novel and don't know why anyone, let alone the Newbery voters could think
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Great, quick read. Loved all of the characters, but figured out the ending pretty quickly due to all of the foreshadowing.
This 2012 Newbery Award winner did a credible job combining historical fiction and humor, but it lacked the emotional resonance of Okay for Now, the book I predicted would win the Newbery this year. Author Jack Gantos named the main character after himself, so I'm guessing that the book was semi-autobiographical, but the plot was so absurd, it's hard to tell.
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Not feelin' the Newbery love on this one. I enjoyed listening to Gantos read the audiobook, but the story itself underwhelmed me. My favorite part happened early in the story, which was when we first meet Miss Volker, but other than that scene, I wasn't finding myself terribly invested in the characters or plot.
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Feb 20, 2012
Kaari
marked it as to-read
