Dead End in Norvelt by Jack Gantos

On either side of my bed, sit two, shelf-lined end tables that are full of the books that are next in line on my reading list.  As soon as I finish one book, I reach for the next.  However, because I keep adding books that friends recommend or those titles that I see listed on Twitter or hear about in podcasts, I never exhaust the shelves of my little night stands.  Sometimes the books that I add to my shelves get lost at the back of the stack since I don’t ever read them in order of purchase.  I choose based on what I feel like reading on that particular selection day.  So, when I went to pull the next “chosen one” from my shelves and saw a little Newbery winner that had slipped precariously close to the back of the line, I knew what I needed to do.  Now, after reading Dead End in Norvelt by Jack Gantos, I can honestly say that I am sorry that it took me so long to get to that one.

Gantos’ 2012 Newbery winning book is a delight, and it is definitely one that I will begin recommending.  I knew about Gantos’ humorous style of writing, having been through a few adventures with Joey Pigza in the past.  But, this book had me laughing out loud.  Jack Gantos is the main character in this hilarious piece of historical fiction.  Yes, I did say hilarious and historical fiction in the same sentence.  From Jack’s attempt to save a deer with flatulence to his Grim Reaper visits to little old ladies, I laughed out loud so many times while living vicariously in the world that both the real and fictional Jacks took me.

The story is set in Norvelt, PA in the 1960s.  Jack is eleven and has just landed himself in a summer-long grounding for doing something really “corny” that sent his mother over the edge.  He then spends his summer digging a bomb shelter, reading old history books, and working as a scribe and typist for his elderly neighbor, Miss Volker.  She just happens to be the town’s medical examiner and, appropriately, author of all obituaries and historical pieces for the small-town newspaper.  The relationship that develops between the two is both funny and heartwarming.  But, the tasks that cantankerous Miss Volker charges Jack with make the book completely engaging and delightful, and there is even a scary encounter with the Hell’s Angels and a murder mystery that must be solved, which just add to the many reasons that readers will want to keep reading this book. 

One of the most fascinating things about this book, though, is the historical setting.  At the beginning of the book Gantos & Gantos introduce the reader to the history of Norvelt.  The reader learns that the town was birthed from a government-sponsored experiment is socialism that was led by none other than Eleanor Roosevelt herself.  After reading about fifty pages of the book, my curiosity got the best of me.  I looked it up.  It is historically accurate, and there are so many interesting facts about this town and its history.  I was shocked because I had never heard of it and was feeling rather glum about my lack of historical context for this book.  It turns out that, when I asked others about their knowledge of the town, not many had heard of it.  In addition, since the real Gantos spent the first few years of his life living in Norvelt, it is hard to tell how many of fictional Jack’s antics are real or imagined.  That makes the historical piece even more fun to try to parse out.  So, not only is the book a great read that would be perfect for reluctant readers who have yet to find joy in a reading life, it is wrought with history and provides so many avenues for historical research.  So, readers who love history and historical fiction will be fans of the book as well. 

As I was reading, I could envision so many routes that students could take in terms of their questions about history, all because of Jack’s story.  What a great springboard for reader-led inquiry.  I know that I have certainly loved my own research and additional reading.  This is a must-read for teachers of upper elementary and intermediate grade students; they will definitely want to share it with their students.  It is just so great all around, and I am certain now that it is well-deserving of that little gold medal on its cover.  And, now, I cannot wait to read the next in the series of Norvelt adventures that Gantos has written!   

Dead End in Norvelt, 341 pages from RR Donnelly & Sons Company (2011); ISBN: 9780374379933

Ideal for upper elementary and intermediate school (and people who love to laugh and/or love history…they can be the same person, you know)