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Dead End in Norvelt
Dead End in Norvelt | Jack Gantos
23 posts | 24 read | 9 to read
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 fiesty old neighbor with a most unusual choretypewriting obituaries filled with stories about the people who founded his utopian town. As one obituary leads to another, Jack is launced 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.
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review
KCofKaysville
Dead End in Norvelt | Jack Gantos
Pickpick

Kind of odd and quirky but fun book about Jack during his vacation in the early sixties and his help for an older lady in the area. It is sort of about the author's own childhood to a degree.

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KCofKaysville
Dead End in Norvelt | Jack Gantos
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Starting this book that was a freebie at a local library. Looks fun!

24 likes1 stack add
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amber_ldsmom
Dead End in Norvelt | Jack Gantos
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Pickpick

4/5🌟
Such a great book! Fun, quirky characters and lots of history. And so funny!
#NewberyEpicChallenge #dogsoflitsy

ShelleyBooksie Beautiful dog!! 3y
amber_ldsmom @ShelleyBooksie Thanks! He‘s a corgidor. ❤️ 3y
46 likes1 stack add2 comments
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Butterfinger
Dead End in Norvelt | Jack Gantos
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Pickpick

This was a fun book. It will probably be in my top ten of the year. Being grounded, community service, the Grim Ripper, and honoring history. What is there not to like?

#EpicNewberyChallenge @amber_ldsmom
#AwesomeApril book 5 @Andrew65

Andrew65 Fantastic 👏👏👏 3y
45 likes1 comment
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Butterfinger
Dead End in Norvelt | Jack Gantos
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I'm in love with this book. I have laughed many times. I'm halfway finished.

#EpicNewberyChallenge
@amber_ldsmom

mandarchy This is one of my all time favorites. 3y
amber_ldsmom I‘m reading this next. Now I‘m excited! 3y
37 likes1 stack add2 comments
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CaffeineAndCandy
Dead End in Norvelt | Jack Gantos
Pickpick

A chill read. Funny and summery. Reminds me of what being grounded was like long ago when I was a kid.

⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2

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amber_ldsmom
Dead End in Norvelt | Jack Gantos
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#NewberyEpicChallenge reads for April!

1. Dead End in Norvelt by Jack Gantos
2. Merci Suárez Changes Gears by Meg Medina

Happy Reading!

23 likes2 comments
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Brennap
Dead End in Norvelt | Jack Gantos
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Pickpick

This is a great HF book you didnt know you needed to read, for grades 4-8. It won the Newberry medal for childrens literature in 2012 and the Scott O‘Dell Award for historical fiction! This book is about a 13 year old boy who is grounded for the summer and forced to do some peculiar work with an old lady in his town.

This book would be great to be utilized as a RA or LC, as it is best to talk about the different hard topics as a class.

Brennap attached a great study guide the author created himself! Its perfect to discuss the various topics and themes within the book. 4y
Brennap This study guide supports the goals of UDL Principle(3.2)”Activate or supply background knowledge” & the ESOL Strategy 13. “Use preview and review activities”. 4y
DrSpalding This is an excellent choice! After reading this book I had to look up more information about Eleanor Roosevelt and her many initiatives during her husband‘s presidency. Did do you know that she started a program where books were delivered to rural families so that they could become more educated? 4y
3 likes5 comments
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Natemiller
Dead End in Norvelt | Jack Gantos
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Mehso-so

It was pretty boring because they whole book was basically the same

Cfischbuch I think I‘d bail, if I were you. It doesn‘t sound like it got your attention. Try something else. 5y
3 likes1 comment
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Myhometownandbeyond
Dead End in Norvelt | Jack Gantos
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I haven‘t posted in a really long time, but I have been reading a ton. I am a Master‘s degree student in Curriculum and Instruction with an emphasis in Children‘s literature. So I decided to post the books I have been reading for my literature courses. #childrensbooksarethebest #studyinghard #studentlife

Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks 😊😊😊 6y
6 likes1 comment
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BucklingBookshelves
Dead End in Norvelt | Jack Gantos
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I haven‘t read anything by this author before, but I couldn‘t resist adding a signed Newbery medalist to our collection. And yes, my son‘s way too young for this one, but I got it signed to him and I‘ll just borrow it in the meantime. 📚📚📚The author was telling the kid ahead of me that this is inspired by his hometown and people he knew — which now has me completely intrigued.

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lildeb_8
Dead End in Norvelt | Jack Gantos
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1. Richard Nixon
2. Heroes day 8/13
3. Tuesday
4. 1996
5. 8675309
6. One for the Money by Janet Evanovich
7.19
8.4
9. 5
10. 15

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LazyLimaLife
Dead End in Norvelt | Jack Gantos
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This will be my last read of 2017. Glad it doesn‘t suck!

DocBrown One of my all time favorites! 6y
18 likes1 comment
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LazyLimaLife
Dead End in Norvelt | Jack Gantos
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Tex2Flo
Dead End in Norvelt | Jack Gantos
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#riotgrams Day 6. Other people's books. I selected books that are going from my library to loved ones. HCR and Bullfinch to my youngest niece. Dead End and Dangerous to my older niece. Diddy, Barbara, and Sleepwalker to my best friend...all back home in Texas.

7 likes2 stack adds
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Johanna414
Dead End in Norvelt | Jack Gantos
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Pickpick

I recommend Jack Gantos to my middle schoolers all the time, and I was happy to learn that this was just as silly and fun as his Joey Pigza books!

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Johanna414
Dead End in Norvelt | Jack Gantos
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I started listening to this driving home from my in-laws and it literally had me giggling out loud. Gantos is one of the few authors who does a great job narrating his own books.

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LaughingLibrarian
Dead End in Norvelt | Jack Gantos
Pickpick

Funny! I loved Jack's character. His personality was adorable. It was entertaining to read about Jack's growth over that one impactful summer as he learned the history of his town, Norvelt, and the people in it.

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smilingshelves
Dead End in Norvelt | Jack Gantos
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I'm not sure if this counts as #sobaditsgood. This is the only Newbery winner of those I've read so far that I haven't liked. But it won the award, so obviously somebody thought it was good! #maybookflowers
@RealLifeReading

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emtobiasz
Dead End in Norvelt | Jack Gantos
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Pickpick

My library system is hosting a lecture from Jack Gantos next month, so I thought I'd better read up. This was a pretty delightful tale of history and boyhood and western Pennsylvania mining country in the 1960s, and now I have to try to figure out how much is autobiographical, since the main character's name is also Jack Gantos!

RebL I saw Gantos at #TFOB years ago. He talked about journaling. He's among my favorite authors. How cool he's coming (came?) your way. 7y
emtobiasz @RebL Yes! Saw him earlier this month-- he was great! If you liked his stuff on journaling, keep an eye out for his new book, due out in August: 7y
44 likes2 comments