Dead End in Norvelt

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!

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. But plenty of excitement (and shocks) are coming Jack's 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. 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 . . . and possibly murder.

Endlessly 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.

Author: Jack Gantos
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (Byr)
Published: 09/13/2011
Pages: 352
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 0.95lbs
Size: 8.30h x 5.70w x 1.20d
ISBN: 9780374379933
Audience: Ages 9-12

Accelerated Reader:
Reading Level: 5.7
Point Value: 12
Interest Level: Middle Grade
Quiz #/Name: 146010 / Dead End in Norvelt


Award: Newbery Medal - Winner
Award: Guardian Children's Fiction Prize - Finalist
Award: William Allen White Childens Book Award - Nominee
Award: Volunteer State Book Awards - Nominee
Award: Scott O Dell Award for Historical Fiction - Winner
Award: Capitol Choices: Noteworthy Books for Children and Teens - Recommended
Award: Sequoyah Book Awards - Nominee
Award: Pennsylvania Young Reader's Choice Award - Nominee


Review Citation(s):
Publishers Weekly 07/25/2011
Kirkus Reviews 04/15/2011
Booklist 08/01/2011 pg. 49
Kirkus Reviews 08/15/2011
Bulletin of Ctr for Child Bks 09/01/2011
Horn Book Magazine 09/01/2011 pg. 85
School Library Journal 09/01/2011 pg. 154
Shelf Awareness 09/13/2011
Publishers Weekly Best Books 11/07/2011 pg. 40
Shelf Awareness 08/10/2011
Kirkus Best Children's Books 11/15/2011 pg. 2118
LJ Best Books of Year 12/01/2011 pg. 64
Hornbook Guide to Children 01/01/2012 pg. 70 - Outstanding, Noteworthy In Style
BookPage 09/01/2011

About the Author
Jack Gantos has written books for people of all ages, from picture books and middle-grade fiction to novels for young adults and adults. His works include Hole in My Life, a memoir that won the Michael L. Printz and Robert F. Sibert Honors; the Joey Pigza series, which include a Newbery Honor book and a National Book Award Finalist; Dead End in Norvelt, winner of the Newbery Medal and the Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction; and the Rotten Ralph series.