Dead End in Norvelt
Jack Gantos, 2011
Norvelt isn't exactly the most exciting town to grow up in - originally set up by Eleanor Roosevelt as a place where the poor could have what they needed and help each other to get by, Norvelt is now falling apart. As the original "Norvelters" are growing old and dying off, someone is selling their empty houses to another state and shipping them off, leaving Norvelt even more in disrepair. Jack, who was looking forward to playing baseball all summer, has been grounded "for life" and is forced to stay on his own property, except when he is forced to help out old Mrs. Volker write obituaries for the local paper. But after all the remaining original Norvelters begin dying off, one by one, the town begins to wonder - is it natural causes, a curse, or something much more sinister?
I first want to say that, as a winner of the Newbery Medal, this book left a lot to be desired. It just doesn't have the substance to stand up to most of the other books in this category. I can't say exactly what should have been different, but it just didn't quite live up to the honor.
That being said, it was still an enjoyable enough book. It dealt a lot with death, but in a way that I think young readers would have been comfortable with. It easily could have veered into creepy, with so many people dying and with obituary writing being such a major plot point. But I thought that it dealt with these issues very well for the most part.
My main complaint, I think, is that the serious issues - mainly the sudden deaths of so many old ladies in the town - in the end were dealt with in such a weird way. While it made sense, technically, it still seemed out of character for this person to do what he did.
Still, there was a good message behind the book - mainly to never forget your history, lest you be doomed to repeat it... but at the same time, you shouldn't let history be your life either. Live your life, roll with the changes, but learn from your mistakes. Not a bad moral, especially for children. A good read, very amusing at times and pretty fun, just not necessarily Newbery material, in my opinion.
That being said, it was still an enjoyable enough book. It dealt a lot with death, but in a way that I think young readers would have been comfortable with. It easily could have veered into creepy, with so many people dying and with obituary writing being such a major plot point. But I thought that it dealt with these issues very well for the most part.
My main complaint, I think, is that the serious issues - mainly the sudden deaths of so many old ladies in the town - in the end were dealt with in such a weird way. While it made sense, technically, it still seemed out of character for this person to do what he did.
Still, there was a good message behind the book - mainly to never forget your history, lest you be doomed to repeat it... but at the same time, you shouldn't let history be your life either. Live your life, roll with the changes, but learn from your mistakes. Not a bad moral, especially for children. A good read, very amusing at times and pretty fun, just not necessarily Newbery material, in my opinion.
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