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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
This is another one that is simply Not My Thing. And I feel like it's a decent enough book if it IS your thing, but it's not mine. Plot: kid in a small town populated by quirky people in, um, late 1950s? early 1960s? is grounded for the summer and his main opportunity to leave his house is when he assists an elderly neighbor with writing obituaries for other elderly townsfolk.
Never, in my life, have I been able to "get" this kind of exaggeration for comic effect. It has that American Tall Tales ...more
Never, in my life, have I been able to "get" this kind of exaggeration for comic effect. It has that American Tall Tales ...more
I am sorry, but this book just didn't appeal to me. The bloody noses were the first turn off and the unappealing characters were the second. Yes, there is humor, but it was a painful kind for me - more at other people's expenses than laughing at life.
I respect others' evaluations of the quality of the book, but it didn't work for me. I am halfway through and I am abandoning it with relief. Please take this into consideration when reading this review. ...more
I respect others' evaluations of the quality of the book, but it didn't work for me. I am halfway through and I am abandoning it with relief. Please take this into consideration when reading this review. ...more
Poor Jack Gantos. Only out of school for the summer for a few days and he gets grounded for shooting a loaded rifle (which he didn't know was loaded) and mowing down his mothers field of corn (on the orders of his father). He is destined to spend the summer stuck inside reading history books and missing out on baseball and other summertime hi-jinks. He gets a pass, though, when his elderly and arthritic neighbor, Mrs. Volker, asks for his help typing up obituaries for the local paper. What at fi
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Pretty funny; lots of humorous hijinks and silliness as Jack spends practically his entire summer grounded for shooting off a Japanese rifle.
This has got to be one of my favorites of the year. I listened to it while driving to work and many times had to redo my make-up as I laughed so hard I cried. Jack Gantos narrated the audio book and he did a great job. "Jack Gantos" the main character and narrator tells of the summer he was grounded for life after shooting a Japanese WWII rifle. His only way of getting out of the house was to help his elderly neighbor - writing obituaries! In this book you will find, rat poison, girl scout cooki
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In Dead End in Norvelt, Jack Gantos has written a richly detailed and infinitely quirky coming-of-age memoir about the summer of 1962, which he spent grounded. What I appreciate most about this book is, despite the fictionalized elements Gantos admits to up front, it's the real deal: a finely-crafted piece of writing. A piece of writing worth studying for structure, character development, beautifully concise snapshot scenes, and individual sentences worthy of serving as miniature mentor texts.
J ...more
J ...more
Even though I chuckled my way through this historical fiction who-dun-it, I felt a bit let down by the ending.
Like Alyson I listened to the audio book. I laughed & slapped my knee more times than I can count! While I loved this tale, I'm not sure about the child-reader. Would be curious to hear of successes with putting this book in students' hands.
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mock newbery blog - won 2012 newbery
Dec 29, 2011
Katie I
marked it as to-read
Jan 23, 2012
Kimberley Little
marked it as to-read
Feb 20, 2012
Kate Farrell
marked it as to-read
Dec 22, 2012
Angie
marked it as to-read
Jul 16, 2014
Amy
marked it as to-read
Oct 06, 2014
Kelly Austin
marked it as to-read
