Dead End in Norvelt by Jack Gantos

Biblioigraphy:

Gantos, Jack. Dead End in Norvelt. New York: Farrar Stratus Giroux, 2011.
                  ISBN 9780374379933

Wilson, Laura. "Jack Gantos-Dead End in Norvelt Interview 2011." Youtube/ Macmillan Audio.                            https://youtu.be/neiTB_YvTPo

Plot Summary:

Jack Gantos, through no fault of his own, was grounded for the entire summer. Well, almost no fault of his own. His mother would not let him do anything but chores and help Mrs. Volker. She had arthritis and needed help typing obituaries for the original community of Norvelt. Writing obituaries seemed boring at first, until the deaths started happening unusually fast. Jack and Mrs.Volker had a mystery on their hands. Jack had an eventful and frustrating summer. He struggled between frequent nose bleeds, almost losing a friend, no baseball, and trying to make both parents happy.

Critical Analysis:

Jack Gantos is not only the main character in the story, he is the author of this book. His protagonist narrative is hilarious. Jack Gantos is from Norvelt, PA. He declared in a Macmillan interview that he combined what really happened with fiction. Yes, he really did get bad nosebleeds. The imagery used to describe the nosebleeds is enough to gross you out. Mrs. Volker is a real person under a different name in his book. Norvelt is a real town founded by Eleanor Roosevelt and named after her. This town was part of the The New Deal Homestead Communities founded by Eleanor Roosevelt. "Mrs. Volker"

Immediately, you connect with the main character by feeling bad for him. Jack was grounded the whole summer for accidentally shooting a rifle his dad brought back from the war in Japan. He never meant to shoot the rifle. He didn't know it was loaded.Then, Jack's dad made him mow his mom's cornfield down in order to build a runway for his plane. Jack's mom told him not to because it was food for the elderly. How was he supposed to choose between what his mom wanted and what his dad wanted? So there he was, grounded.

He was forced to help Mrs. Volker write and type the obituaries. She wrote interesting information about each original community member that passed on adding some other historical notes that occurred on the same day in history. The "This Day In History" excerpts in the newspaper are also real information written by "Mrs. Volker". "Mrs. Volker" was hired by Eleanor Roosevelt as chief nurse and medical examiner. She promised Mrs. Roosevelt that she would "keep health records on the original two hundred and fifty families." She only saw it fit to write their final health record.

Jack Gantos threw in the murder climax to thicken the plot. Who was killing all these original community members? Why am I craving Thin Mints? Oh that's right, Mrs. Volker sent Thin Mints to the original community members with the meals that Jack's mom cooked. Mr. Spizz delivered the meals and cookies. Who is responsible for the deaths of all these original Norvelters? Lets just say, I am not craving Thin Mints anymore.

All the characters brought the story to life and helped the reader relate. I could relate to Mrs. Volker's honor and determination. I could relate to Jack Gantos' frustration, honor, curiosity and determination. I could relate to Mr. Spizz' unconditional love. I understood how frustrated Bunny Huffer was when she could not play with her best friend. I loved how Mrs. Gantos wanted to trade goods and services, wanted to take care of her community, and wanted to settle in Norvelt with her family. At the same time, I understood why Mr. Gantos wanted to leave the small town to look for more opportunities in a bigger city.

The theme is learn from history to keep from repeating it. I hope Jack learned to keep away from the rifle and listen to his mom. I would also say the theme is the community founded by Eleanor Roosevelt in The New Deal Homestead Communities to help those that are less fortunate.

Font seems like Angsana New in 18pt. The "This Day In History" font is bold and probably 16pt. Jacket art sets the mood of mysterious and hilarious at the same time. Greg Call did a great job of portraying the character and story in his illustration.

The mixture of reality, fiction, humor, and history blended seamlessly in this story of a town founded by Eleanor Roosevelt. A town that once traded goods and services to help each other out, now wanted money for goods and services. Times change, people change, and then there is murder. "Cheeze-us-crust!"


Review Excerpts:

2012 Newberry Medal
Scott O'Dell Award
2011 Publishers Weekly Best Children's Fiction

From School Library Journal: "A fast paced and witty read."

From BookList: "Those with a nose for history will be especially pleased."

From Publishers Weekly: :Memorable in every way."

Connections:

Check-out the facts you will find in:

Arthurdale Heritage, Inc. Arthurdale, WV, 1985. www.arthurdaleheritage.org/history/new-deal-homestead-communities/

National First Ladies' Library. First Lady Biography: Eleanor Roosevelt, 2000. http://www.firstladies.org/biographies/firstladies.aspx?biography=33

Gather other books by Jack Gantos to read such as:

• Gantos, Jack. From Norvelt to Nowhere. ISBN 9781250062789
• Gantos, Jack. Joey Pigza Loses Control. ISBN 9781250061676
• Gantos, Jack. Jack on the Tracks: Four Seasons of Fifth Grade. 9780374336653

Gather other Historical Fiction books involving war to read such as:

• Avi. The Fighting Ground. ISBN 9780064401852
• Lincoln, James. My Brother Sam Is Dead. 9780027229806
• Spinelli, Jerry. Milkweed: A Novel. ISBN 9780375813740

Use the Jack Gantos Books in an Author's Spotlight Unit to compare his work.

Use the historical fiction books to introduce a unit on war.

Use the websites to do research on Eleanor Roosevelt.