Joey Pigza - series. We received a review copy of the audiobook from Macmillan Audio and from the onset, I knew only that it was a Newbery Award winner and that Norvelt was the name of the town in which the main character lived, so basically nothing. This review contains spoilers - I'm not a good enough writer to express my displeasure with this book without revealing plot points. I was lucky enough to experience this via Advanced LISTENING Copy. 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 … I'm no kid. However, a bullet somehow flies out, causing a nosebleed. Although I have many complaints (the murder of a half dozen people is played for laughs, the father is psychotic but no one seems to notice, the book somehow manages to also be boring) let's focus on just one: the casual use of a particular slur. He's from western Pennsylvania! Interesting Tidbits from Dead End in Norvelt; The Subsistence Homesteading Program. There's no shortage of strangeness to go around, though, as 12-year-old Jack discovers in the summer of 1962. It’s the beginning of summer, and twelve-year-old Jack has just accidentally fired his father’s looted “Jap. What makes Jack Gantos tick? In the process, he gets some tasty history snacks that Miss Volker includes with these columns. Dead End In Norvelt by Jack Gantos: Dead End in Norvelt. It's not for ruining multiple shirts because of his frequent nosebleeds (Jack's nose opens up anytime he's feeling nervous or unsettled). It's the summer of 1962 and Jack Gantos has been grounded by his mother. Jack Gantos is the perfect narrator for his own work. I could imagine my six-year-old grandson getting a real charge out of some of the situations (the hunting scene in particular----why is it that boys find passing gas so hilarious?). I finally finished this book and not because it was bad. It's the summer of 1962, and Jack's vacation is ruined when his Mom grounds him for the entire summer. Jack is the central character. In 1960, I was twelve years old. I had really enjoyed Mr. Gantos' Joey Pigza books, and this one follows that format of having a basically nice boy have to work his way out of the screwy situations life hands him. You have to like a character who loves "to sniff the insides of books...Because each one has its own special perfume." There's more than laugh-out-loud gothic comedy here. 25 bonus points 3 successes English 0 (0) Multi Eyes challenges you to solve this quiz. Dead End in Norvelt Quotes Showing 1-25 of 25 “...who proved that you don't have to do what your parents want, or what your boyfriend wants, for you to be happy. Miss Volker also writes obituaries for the town newspaper. Dead End in Norvelt is a fantastic book to teach in a middle school setting. If you liked Dead End in Norvelt by Jack Gantos, you may also like Dying in the Wool by Frances Brody. Early in the book, when Jack is sent to help his elderly neighbor and finds her with her hands in a steaming pot, I just cracked up. Yes. His gang returns to the town to set fires and cause havoc, and some residents believe a Hell’s Angels curse is causing the increase in the death rate. With all of the critical attention this book received, I'm looking forward to the rest of it. Set in 1962 in a government-planned town as part of a program spearheaded by Eleanor Roosevelt to help Americans live decent, middle-class lives, it’s much more a tale of Depression-era New Deal progressivism, that’s sadly such a bad word today, than it is of small-town ‘60s America. I didn't like it; I don't recommend it much. I kept writing in my reading log all the one-liners I liked -inking up 13 pages. I loved the humor in the book – the jokes felt authentic — just as a 12-year-old would think of them. What year did the plague of "St. John's Dance" erupt in Germany? Dead End in Norvelt Summary Jack lives with his Mom and Dad in Norvelt, a small town big on quirky neighbors. According to one reviewer, the "real hero" is "his home town and its values", a "defiantly political" message. It's everywhere you look. 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!. In the historic town of Norvelt, Pennsylvania, twelve-year-old Jack Gantos spends the summer of 1962 grounded for various offenses until he is assigned to help an elderly neighbor with a most unusual chore involving the newly dead, molten wax, twisted promises, Girl Scout cookies, underage driving, lessons from history, typewriting, and countless bloody noses (Gantos, Jack). There are 8 classes and it takes 10 days to see them all - throw in the fact I got bronchitis and it got dragged out another week - but voila, I am finally done with the 2012 Newbery Medal winner... and oh boy, is it a winner, from the nose-bleeding main character-named-after-the author, Jack Gantos, to the no-nonsense, unsqueamish, Norvelt historian, Miss Volker. Instead it's for plowing under his mother's corn field, even though he was just following his father's orders. Jack watches Miss Volker's sister's house burn down. So I believe I know something of the time period. 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!. It's not for ruining multiple shirts because of his frequent nosebleeds (Jack's nose opens up anytime he's feeling nervous or unsettled). The book's Jack is charming and earnest and serves as a willing foil for Norvelt’s wacky residents. This book was really, really good! Later, Jack's dad acquires a Piper J-3 Cub, and assigns Jack to dig an underground bomb shelter as his dad builds a runway for the plane. Voices from a Medieval Village, Flora & Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Dead_End_in_Norvelt&oldid=1016778598, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 9 April 2021, at 01:03. I can't imagine why. Pleasant!" He totally sounds like my childhood and relatives. Later, a Hells Angel gang member is hit by a cement truck near the Norvelt pants factory after crazily dancing a three-mile stretch from a Mt. Dead End in Norvelt, by Jack Gantos, portrayed the adventurous yet boring summer of a boy, Jack, whose plans for summer are ravaged when he gets grounded for making some highly immature choices. [6], Newbery medal judges called the book "achingly funny"[4] and one British reviewer called it "rib-splitting".[7]. To create our... To see what your friends thought of this book, Yeah she had arthritis and it made her hands move more were you not paying attention. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of, Published I don't think it is the best thing I ever read, but it is highly entertaining and a change from the angst-ridden books that often garner the Newbery Medal. 1962. Who is the president during the story Dead End in Norvelt? (Though this is by no means an autobiography -- the author lived in the real Norvelt only until age 7.) According to one reviewer, the "real hero" is "his home town and its values", a "defiantly political" message. Over the years, I’ve read a few Jack Gantos’ articles or speeches in, Winner of the 2012 Newbery, this entertaining semi-autobiographical tale tells of an America now long gone. His mother planned to use the harvest corn as a barter instrument and food supply for those less fortunate in the small town of Norville. I am seriously so embarrassed about my lack of pickup on this one. Finally, an inset paragraph (styled after the "In this day in history" section that Miss Volker employed Jack to type along with the obits in the Norvelt news) talks about Jack being ungrounded. It is absolutely packed with great teaching points, so I am creating individual chapter quizzes that can be used as assessments, reading checks, or discussions based on my own experience and notes from teaching this in my c. I see that the reviews for this book are all over the place. 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! The main protagonist, Jack Gantos lives with his parents in Norvelt who eventually gets grounded throughout the whole summer after losing the trust of both father and mother. In 1962 Norvelt, Pennsylvania (a town founded by Eleanor Roosevelt), Jack's summer job keeps him busy. However, an award-winning novel for children or adults should be more than amusing. You just have to be yourself, for there is no love greater than self love” Quite the opposite. If you want to save your points and appear in the Kidibot charts, you must be logged in. I actually really enjoyed it. Jack Gantos. Quite the opposite. I'm no kid. Then I started to read the first chapter out loud to the grade 5 classes - many laughing hysterically at the outlandish behavior of the characters. Dead End in Norvelt offers up a historical comedy that chronicles one summer in the life of young Jack Gantos living in Norvelt, Pennsylvania. Gantos writes a funny, off-beat, and nostalgic tale about childhood growing up in the shadows of World War II, a simpler time in many ways, but also one marked by impending change. Homepage » Quizzes list » Dead End in Norvelt. Most of the dead are original members of the Norvelt community. "Dead End in Norvelt" by Jack Gantos is the story of a twelve-year-old who happens to have the same name as the author - Jack Gantos. "Dead End in Norvelt" is absolutely hilarious, and I feel it was a deserving winner of the Newbery Medal. I sauntered up to my parents and said, "So, have you two ever heard of Norvelt?" It is part fiction and part nonfiction. Even if you win, the battle is never over inside you.”, Pennsylvania Young Readers' Choice Award Nominee for Grades 6-8 (2014), Boston Author's Club Young Reader Award Nominee (2012), See all 8 questions about Dead End in Norvelt…, Dead End in Norvelt / Jack Gantos. It's a fun read! By the time I'd read about 20 pages, I wasn't sure I could finish the book because I … Reads like a hot mess at first with bizarre, seemingly disconnected characters and events, but Gantos pulls it together and builds something brilliant out of it. It should have a universal, worthwhile theme and dynamic characters who grow and change from their experiences, and these two elements are what this historical fiction lacks. We've got you covered with the buzziest new releases of the day. Jack turns twelve. Melding the entirely true and the wildly fictional, Dead End in Norvelt is the story of an incredible two months for a boy named Jack Gantos, whose plans for vacation adventure are suddenly ruined when he is grounded by his feuding parents for what seems like forever. Occasional moments of clever brilliance, but Newbery-wise, I can't see this standing out in a field that includes Okay For Now. The book concludes with Jack being picked up in his dad's J-3 and doing some "bombing runs" with paint-filled balloons on the Viking drive-in theater, during which he decides it isn't that fun and asks to be let down back on the ball field. But then, I'm not among the demographic for which it is written. It's not action packed, but it is chock full of many interesting historical tidbits and oddball characters. However, an award-winning novel for children or adults should be more than amusing. I had really enjoyed Mr. Gantos' Joey Pigza books, and this one follows that format of having. It's ev. It was a genuine summer treat. This ends up causing the rest of the Hells Angel gang to cause mayhem in the town, lighting unoccupied houses on fire and stealing the most expensive casket from Mr. Huffer's funeral parlor for their fallen brother. And then there’s the indefatigable, eccentric Miss Volker, a walking encyclopedia of New Deal Americana, who gets him to help write vivid obituaries of the now mostly elderly townspeople and a column about the town’s leftist history. DEAD END IN NORVELT is a cornfield plowed under. Face it, when you haven’t heard anything from an author in years, you think they must have passed on and perhaps you just missed seeing the obit. I'm going with two stars, because according to Goodreads, that stands for "it was okay". It is bloody bad. When Jack gets there, Miss Volker says that Mr. Spizz had admitted to secretly poisoning the Original Norvelters to try to get her to marry him, and that he had stolen Jack's car to get a six-hour headstart on the county police. And then it came to me like a brick to my head--my extremely embarrassed head, that is. Later, Jack gets a call from Mr. Spizz, who was supervising Miss Volkers house arrest, to come down to her house. I really enjoyed following the "adventures" of young Jack Gantos, or "Gantos Boy" as the tricycle-riding, elderly Spizz insists upon calling him. Goodreads helps you keep track of books you want to read. An achingly funny romp through a dying New Deal town. You just have to be yourself, for there is no love greater than self love”, “Don't ever go to war. Set in 1962 in a government-planned town as part of a program spearheaded by Eleanor Roosevelt to help Americans live decent, middle-class lives, it’s much more a tale of Depression-era New Deal progressivism, that’s sadly such a bad word today, than it is of small-town ‘60s America. [4] The Guardian Prize judges, who are British children's novelists, cited "self-sufficiency, community, and neighbourliness". In those books and in this one, the father is often dealing with a lot of problems of his own, and the mother is the one holding things together. What year does the story Dead End in Norvelt take place? [5] In Britain, where it was published by the Transworld Publishers imprint Corgi Books, it was one of eight books on the longlist for the annual Guardian Children's Fiction Prize. 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