1. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Gantos, Jack. 2011. DEAD END IN NORVELT. New York: Farrar Strauss Giroux. ISBN 9780374379933
2. PLOT SUMMARY
School is finally out and just as Jack is about to start a "great summer vacation," his mother ruins it! She grounds Jack "for life" after shooting off his father's forbidden Japanese rifle. Now he must assist a feisty old neighbor, "ancient Miss Volker" in writing obituaries as the last of Norvelt's original homesteaders die off. Jack's summer of nothing is suddenly filled with death, Hell's Angles, rebel Girl Scouts, a murder mystery, and the fear that he may drown in his own blood. By the end of the two months, Jack gains a greater appreciation for his own history as he heeds Miss Volker's warning, "learn [your] history or [you'll] be doomed to dust like one of the Lost Worlds."
3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
History oozes out this book like blood from Jack's nose: New Deal homesteads, Eleanor Roosevelt, the conquering of the Aztecs, the English Peasants' Revolt, King Arthur, Cleopatra and countless others. The history is not over whelming or awkwardly placed, but rather woven into the story by the main characters, young Jack and "ancient Miss Volker," who can't seem to go through any experience without connecting the past to the present.
Readers will be able to identify with Jack's desire to get out of boredom and daydream into adventure. He's a regular kid who doesn't mind being a "boy slob," gets excited when he gets to drive a car for the first time, and tries to squirm out of all sorts of trouble. His "little problem" of a hypersensitive bloody nose provides gory, gruesome details that young readers will yearn for. Jack's only escape from his doomed summer is reading history books and helping Miss Volker, the town medical examiner, nurse, obituary writer, and historian. Her wit and "crazy old lady" manner is hilarious: "I love it when I get mad! I feel like I'm ready to take on the world."
Gantos captures the time period well. The references to homesteaders and their community life of giving a "hand up - not a hand out," people bartering for what they needed, community casseroles, and old time values draw the reader in to the morals of the early 1960s. Small details of the era are also visible: milk jars delivered to doorsteps, typewriters, references to "Commies" and "Japs," and other war paraphernalia offer plenty of authentic elements to discuss with young readers newly exposed to this era.
Readers will be able to identify with Jack's desire to get out of boredom and daydream into adventure. He's a regular kid who doesn't mind being a "boy slob," gets excited when he gets to drive a car for the first time, and tries to squirm out of all sorts of trouble. His "little problem" of a hypersensitive bloody nose provides gory, gruesome details that young readers will yearn for. Jack's only escape from his doomed summer is reading history books and helping Miss Volker, the town medical examiner, nurse, obituary writer, and historian. Her wit and "crazy old lady" manner is hilarious: "I love it when I get mad! I feel like I'm ready to take on the world."
Gantos captures the time period well. The references to homesteaders and their community life of giving a "hand up - not a hand out," people bartering for what they needed, community casseroles, and old time values draw the reader in to the morals of the early 1960s. Small details of the era are also visible: milk jars delivered to doorsteps, typewriters, references to "Commies" and "Japs," and other war paraphernalia offer plenty of authentic elements to discuss with young readers newly exposed to this era.
4. AWARDS & REVIEW EXCERPTS
Guardian Children's Fiction Prize, 2012
John Newbery Medal, 2012
School Library Journal's Battle of the Kids' Books, 2012
Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction, 2012
The Horn Book, starred review
"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."
Publisher's Weekly, starred review
"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 . . . Jacki Gantos."
"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 . . . Jacki Gantos."
Jon Scieszka, founder of guysread.com and author of the Spaceheadz seriez
"Nobody can tell a story like Jack Gantos can. And this is a story like no other. It's funny. It's thoughtful. It's history. It's weird. But you don't need me to attempt to describe it. Get in there and start reading Gantos."5. CONNECTIONS
* Have students write their own "This Day In History" column.
*Read more about Norvelt, Pennsylvania:
http://explorepahistory.com/hmarker.php?markerId=1-A-2D6
*Read more about Norvelt, Pennsylvania:
http://explorepahistory.com/hmarker.php?markerId=1-A-2D6
*Follow along Miss Voker's red pins with a map of Norvelt's 250 family homestead map at
http://explorepahistory.com/displayimage.php?imgId=1-2-10BE.
http://explorepahistory.com/displayimage.php?imgId=1-2-10BE.
*Learn about Eleanor Roosevelt's life and work as well as her contribution to her husband's New Deal programs:
http://www.firstladies.org/biographies/firstladies.aspx:biography=33
http://www.firstladies.org/biographies/firstladies.aspx:biography=33
Fleming, C. (2005). Our Eleanor: A Scrapbook Look at Eleanor Roosevelt’s Remarkable Life. New York: Atheneum Books for Young Readers.
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