From the Bookshelf of Mock Newbery 2026…
Find A Copy At
Group Discussions About This Book
showing 3 of 3 topics
view all »
Other topics mentioning this book
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 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
...more
2 stars for this very odd, pseudo auto-biographical YA novel. Written by Jack Gantos about a character named Jack Gantos, this books draws you into the very strange town of Norvelt. Apparently Norvelt was the brainchild of Eleanor Roosevelt and was supposed to be a utopian answer to poverity and sub-standard living condtions. Many decades later the town, and it's older inhabitants are beginning to die off, some of them suspiciously.
The story itself was quirky and funny and would have made for d ...more
The story itself was quirky and funny and would have made for d ...more
Our 2012 Newbery Winner
What I liked about this book:
While definitely not Newbery worthy, Dead End in Norvelt did have some really good moments. I think it was the promise of these good moments that left me so disappointed with the ending, and really the book as a whole. My favorite scene was when Jack, in order to check on whether an old lady who had been reported dead, was actually dead, snuck into her house in the only disguise he had available, his Grim Reaper costume. I also liked the huntin ...more
What I liked about this book:
While definitely not Newbery worthy, Dead End in Norvelt did have some really good moments. I think it was the promise of these good moments that left me so disappointed with the ending, and really the book as a whole. My favorite scene was when Jack, in order to check on whether an old lady who had been reported dead, was actually dead, snuck into her house in the only disguise he had available, his Grim Reaper costume. I also liked the huntin ...more
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
...more
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 "
...more
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
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
...more
It took me a while to get into the rhythm of this one--or something. I guess Gantos is a bit of an acquired taste and it takes a while to acclimate. Whatever. But, once I did adjust to Gantos world, I thoroughly enjoyed this bizarre and zany read. I got to see him speak once about his childhood, so I had no trouble believing every word of this book. Maybe we should be cataloging this one as nonfiction!
Jack Gantos (the author) shows humor, warmth, adventure in this book. Jack Gantos, the character is grounded for the entire summer for playing with his dad's Japanese WWII souvenirs, including a rifle, that he shoots at a drive in theater not knowing it is loaded. The story shows Jack's summer where is is required by his mom to help an elderly neighbor, Mrs. Voller, write obituaries for the original Norvelt citizens at they pass away. Jack also suffers from nose bleeds every time he is nervous o
...more
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.
...more
The Newbery award winner is funny enough, but the emotional appeal of the book fell short for me. History is important, know the past, blah,blah, blah. Gantos' books are enjoyable and fun, but award-winning doesn't quite describe them for me. ...more
I guess that I liked it, the characters were colorful enough. And I enjoyed the small town history lesson, but I just don't understand why it won the Newbery.
...more
Hilarious and heartfelt
Feb 08, 2012
Annette
marked it as to-read
