The gore is all Jacks, which to his continuing embarrassment ‘would spray out of my nose holes like dragon flames whenever anything exciting or upsetting happens. * “An exhilarating summer marked by death, gore and fire sparks deep thoughts in a small-town lad not uncoincidentally named ‘Jack Gantos.

“Gantos, as always, delivers bushels of food for thought and plenty of outright guffaws.” - Booklist This is a richly layered semi-autobiographical tale, an ode to a time and place, to history and the power of reading.” - The Horn Book, starred review * “Theres more than laugh-out-loud gothic comedy here. The blossoming of their friendship coincides with the blooming of Jacks character.” -Shelf Awareness Pro Jacks main ‘get out of jail free card, and one of the novels most charming characters, is Miss Volker. “This winning novel, both humorous and heartwarming, takes place during the summer of 1962, when narrator Jack Gantos turns 12 and spends most of his days grounded. “A more quietly (but still absurdly) funny and insightful account of a kids growth, kin to Gantoss Jack stories, that will stealthily hook even resistant readers into the lure of history.” - BCCB “A fast-paced and witty read.” - School Library Journal Jackie Gantos.” - Publishers Weekly, starred review * “A bit of autobiography works its way into all of Gantoss work, but he one-ups himself in this wildly entertaining meld of truth and fiction by naming the main character.

It reminded me of my small-town childhood, although my small town was never as delightfully weird as Norvelt.” -Dave Barry “This is a brilliant book, full of history, mystery, and laughs. and possibly murder.Įndlessly surprising, this sly, sharp-edged narrative is the author at his very best, making readers laugh out loud at the most unexpected things in a dead-funny depiction of growing up in a slightly off-kilter place where the past is present, the present is confusing, and the future is completely up in the air. As one obituary leads to another, Jack is launched on a strange adventure involving molten wax, Eleanor Roosevelt, twisted promises, a homemade airplane, Girl Scout cookies, a man on a trike, a dancing plague, voices from the past, Hells Angels. But plenty of excitement (and shocks) are coming Jacks way once his mom loans him out to help a feisty old neighbor with a most unusual chore-typewriting obituaries filled with stories about the people who founded his utopian town. 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 whose nose spews bad blood at every little shock he gets. Dead End in Norvelt is the winner of the 2012 Newbery Medal for the years best contribution to childrens literature and the Scott ODell Award for Historical Fiction!

Dead end in norvelt series