We don't often feature books with central male protags, but this one from Jack Gantos also has a fierce senior female, Miss Volker, in the spotlight. And we don't regularly recommend middle grade novels. Yet, why not read outside YA? Isn't it the story that matters, not the age of the main character? Did you read, Dead End in Norvelt? You don't want to miss it. I was literally laughing out loud as I relished each page. I had to read passages to my family which in turn got us all giggling.
Blending truth and fiction, Jack Gantos writes of Jackie who spends the summer helping Miss Volker write the town's obituaries. The original citizens are passing quickly from the scene, even a bit suspiciously. The work brims with memorable characters living and dying in 1962.
The book won the Newbery in 2012 and the Scott O'Dell for Historical Fiction. Here are a few reviews:
A bit of autobiography works its way into all of Gantos’s work, but he one-ups himself in this wildly entertaining meld of truth and fiction by naming the main character . . . Jackie Gantos.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review
“A fast-paced and witty read.” —School Library Journal
“A more quietly (but still absurdly) funny and insightful account of a kid’s growth, kin to Gantos’s Jack stories, that will stealthily hook even resistant readers into the lure of history.” —BCCB
“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. Jack’s main ‘get out of jail free card,’ and one of the novel’s most charming characters, is Miss Volker. The blossoming of their friendship coincides with the blooming of Jack’s character.” —Shelf Awareness Pro
* “There’s more than laugh-out-loud gothic comedy here. 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
“Gantos, as always, deliver
rs bushels of food for thought and plenty of outright guffaws.” —Booklist
* “An exhilarating summer marked by death, gore and fire sparks deep thoughts in a small-town lad not uncoincidentally named ‘Jack Gantos.’ The gore is all Jack’s, which to his continuing embarrassment ‘would spray out of my nose holes like dragon flames’ whenever anything exciting or upsetting happens. And that would be on every other page, seemingly. . . . Characteristically provocative gothic comedy, with sublime undertones.” —Kirkus Reviews, starred review
Find this funny, poignant book, rgz, and get ready to laugh.
Dead End in Norvelt
By Jack Gantos
Square Fish, paperback
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Blog: readergirlz (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Jack Gantos, Square Fish, Diva Delight, Dead End in Norvelt, Lorie Ann Grover, Add a tag
Blog: Schiel & Denver Book Publishers Blog (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: award winning children's books, Caldecott medal, Blackout, A Ball for Daisy, Breaking Stalin's Nose, 2012 ALA awards, children's books, Newbery medal, young adult, Parenting, Books, Book Awards, ALA awards, Coretta Scott King award, Pura Belpre award, Great Migration, Underground, Family Room, Heart and Soul, Jasper Jones, I Broke My Trunk, Where Things Come Back, Me...Jane, Scorpio Races, Tales for Very Picky Eaters, Dead End in Norvelt, Under the Mesquite, I Want My Hat Back, childrens book awards, Diego Rivera: His World and Ours, Grandpa Green, Hurricane Dancers: The First Caribbean Pirate Shipwreck, Inside Out & Back Again, kids book awards, Marisol McDonald Doesn't Match, Maximilian & the Mystery of the Guardian Angel: A Bilingual Lucha Libre Thriller, Michael J. Printz award, See Me Run, The Cazuela that the Farm Maiden, Theodore Geisel award, Why We Broke Up The Returning, Add a tag
This morning I got up at 5 a.m. to see (via webcast) the 2012 winners of the biggest awards in children's publishing--the American Library Association (ALA) awards. The film industry has their Golden Globes® and their Oscars®, and we have the Caldecott and Newbery Medals, the Coretta Scott King Award, and the Michael J. Printz Award. Unlike most other book awards, the major children's book awards given by the ALA have no lists of finalists or nominees. It's a surprise every single year (with plenty of speculation beforehand) and I kind of love the secrecy. This year's announcement had both the unexpected and the "ah, of course" books on the lists (including some 2011 Best of the Month titles)--you just never know who is going to win what. Congratulations to this year's winning and honored authors and illustrators:
2012 Caldecott Medal for the most distinguished American picture book for children:
- Winner!: A Ball for Daisy by Chris Raschka
- Honor: Blackout by John Rocco
- Honor: Grandpa Green by Lane Smith
- Honor: Me...Jane by Patrick McDonnell
2012 Newbery Medal for the most outstanding contribution to children’s literature:
- Winner!: Dead End in Norvelt by Jack Gantos
- Honor: Inside Out & Back Again by Thanhha Lai
- Honor: Breaking Stalin's Nose by Eugene Yelchin
2012 Michael L. Printz Award for excellence in literature written for young adults:
- Winner!: Where Things Come Back by John Corey Whaley
- Honor: Why We Broke Up by Daniel Handler and Maira Kalman
- Honor: The Returning by Christine Hinwo Add a Comment
Blog: Schiel & Denver Book Publishers Blog (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: children's books, Newbery medal, Books, young adult, Book Awards, ALA awards, Parenting, Coretta Scott King award, Pura Belpre award, award winning children's books, Great Migration, Caldecott medal, Blackout, Underground, Family Room, Heart and Soul, Jasper Jones, I Broke My Trunk, Where Things Come Back, Me...Jane, A Ball for Daisy, Scorpio Races, Tales for Very Picky Eaters, Dead End in Norvelt, Under the Mesquite, I Want My Hat Back, Breaking Stalin's Nose, 2012 ALA awards, childrens book awards, Diego Rivera: His World and Ours, Grandpa Green, Hurricane Dancers: The First Caribbean Pirate Shipwreck, Inside Out & Back Again, kids book awards, Marisol McDonald Doesn't Match, Maximilian & the Mystery of the Guardian Angel: A Bilingual Lucha Libre Thriller, Michael J. Printz award, See Me Run, The Cazuela that the Farm Maiden, Theodore Geisel award, Why We Broke Up The Returning, Never Forgotten, Add a tag
This morning I got up at 5 a.m. to see (via webcast) the 2012 winners of the biggest awards in children's publishing--the American Library Association (ALA) awards. The film industry has their Golden Globes® and their Oscars®, and we have the Caldecott and Newbery Medals, the Coretta Scott King Award, and the Michael J. Printz Award. Unlike most other book awards, the major children's book awards given by the ALA have no lists of finalists or nominees. It's a surprise every single year (with plenty of speculation beforehand) and I kind of love the secrecy. This year's announcement had both the unexpected and the "ah, of course" books on the lists (including some 2011 Best of the Month titles)--you just never know who is going to win what. Congratulations to this year's winning and honored authors and illustrators:
2012 Caldecott Medal for the most distinguished American picture book for children:
- Winner!: A Ball for Daisy by Chris Raschka
- Honor: Blackout by John Rocco
- Honor: Grandpa Green by Lane Smith
- Honor: Me...Jane by Patrick McDonnell
2012 Newbery Medal for the most outstanding contribution to children’s literature:
- Winner!: Dead End in Norvelt by Jack Gantos
- Honor: Inside Out & Back Again by Thanhha Lai
- Honor: Breaking Stalin's Nose by Eugene Yelchin
2012 Michael L. Printz Award for excellence in literature written for young adults:
- Winner!: Where Things Come Back by John Corey Whaley
- Honor: Why We Broke Up by Daniel Handler and Maira Kalman
- Honor: The Returning by Christine Hinwo Add a Comment
Blog: Books 'n' stories (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: giveaway, Jack Gantos, aundiobooks, Dead End in Norvelt, Add a tag
Today at midnight, the Jack Gantos giveaway ends. We did not meet my "requirements" of 10 comments on that post. Hmmm, I suspect that I don't have the readership for that kind of giveaway. If you still hope to win an audiobook of Jack's latest novel, Dead End in Norvelt, comment on this post. Anonymous comments are fine but I do need some way to identify the winner so say something clever in your comment.
If I get 10 comments - whoo hoo! - I will announce the winner in my Post on Thursday, August 18th.
Well, this is my first visit to your blog and I'm glad I finally made it here. I can't comment on anything specific just yet but if there is a prize involved, I'm quick to act. the real hook was the challenge to say something clever. I am particularly good at that, in fact, I may be the most clever person you know. Now, that you know who I am.... You better... OK, another hint, I'm the cutest person you know. that did it didn't it? hmmm. Funniest person you know?... You are pretty certain now, I can feel it. Here is your final clue - You love my smile - when I'm happy the whole world is happy! I'll be waiting for you phone call. I won't be around on Thursday to claim my prize but a call would be prize enough for me.