Dead End in Norvelt (2011)

Newbery winner, 2012. Jack is an 11 year old boy, living the summer of 1962 grounded because he accidentally shot off his father's war relic gun. His mother assigns him to help a neighbor, Miss Volker, write town obituaries. Things get dicey as people in the town start dying off in rapid succession. Add in a group of Hell's Angels, a fake bomb shelter, and some crazy town characters and you've got a comedic mystery on your hands.

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Jack spends his summer grounded for various offenses until he is assigned to help an elderly neighbor, Miss Volker, with a most unusual chore involving the newly dead – writing obituaries. Jack and Miss Volker are alarmingly busy, as residents die in rapid succession. The author combines this unlikely twosome with underage driving, lessons from history, and countless bloody noses to win the 2012 Newbery Medal.

Very funny. Very much in the 1960s time frame. Very much worthy of the Newbery award.
Interested to hear how my 11 yer old grand daughter liked it. ( )

After Jack got grounded for firing his dad’s war rifle he was sure that his summer would be ruined. His mom made him stay in his room until one of the neighbors needed help. From that point on, Jack went over to an elderly neighbor’s house who has an odd chore. She digs through different articles and write obituaries. She also write a history column for the newspaper. That summer Jack was exposed to history, scandals, and a possible murder!

This book was very unique. The author had a way of adding sharp humor to random situations. I enjoyed the stories that Jack’s neighbor shared with him.

The students could use this book to learn the different parts of a newspaper because in the book it talks about different columns and sections of the newspaper. Another idea is to have students write obituaries or biographies for different past historical figures.

Historical fiction about the town named after Eleanor Roosevelt during the depression, Norvelt has idealism at its core and community values at its heart. Jack is twelve when he is grounded for firing his father's gun, and enlisted by the town obituary writer to take dictation as people die. It is a brilliant way to learn the history of the town, one person at a time.

Gantos flavors his tale with his trademark humor and impossibly real internal conflicts that tear at your heartstrings. ( )