From the Bookshelf of Mock Newbery 2026…
Find A Copy At
Group Discussions About This Book
showing 3 of 3 topics
view all »
Other topics mentioning this book
It's Never too Early to Start...
By Kristen · 214 posts · 780 views
By Kristen · 214 posts · 780 views
last updated Jan 02, 2014 08:10AM
What Members Thought
Newbery, 2012
Memoir of Jack Gantos' 12th summer: grounded and working as a helper to his neighbor, the spit-fire old lady, Miss Volker. The two are a hilarious pair. She helps him by cauterizing the inside of his nose to stop chronic bleeding and teaches him to drive. He helps her by peeling hot paraffin wax off her arthritic hands, running all manner of errands, and being her scribe for her (almost daily!) obituary column.
Despite the fact that I laughed out loud quite a bit, I give three stars ...more
Memoir of Jack Gantos' 12th summer: grounded and working as a helper to his neighbor, the spit-fire old lady, Miss Volker. The two are a hilarious pair. She helps him by cauterizing the inside of his nose to stop chronic bleeding and teaches him to drive. He helps her by peeling hot paraffin wax off her arthritic hands, running all manner of errands, and being her scribe for her (almost daily!) obituary column.
Despite the fact that I laughed out loud quite a bit, I give three stars ...more
Dead End In Norvelt may just be the best (strangest) book I have read in 2013.
Jack Gantos is the author of this book. "Jack Gantos" is also the name of the main character. Both the real Gantos and the fictional Gantos grew up in little town called Norvelt in the early 1960s. But did the real Gantos get nosebleeds whenever his emotions ran high? Was he really grounded for a whole summer for shooting his dad's Japanese rifle and mowing down his mom's corn field? Did he really type obituaries for the town's medical examiner because she had terrible arthritis? Was his best fr
...more
So the main character, Jack, is grounded for the summer and since it's the 60's he can get away with playing with guns, driving a car without a license, and disobeying his parents. I liked the device of using someone's obituary to coincide with other things that happened on the same day--I didn't like the "poetic license" the author takes with the facts and the editorializing of historical events with a certain slant on said facts. Maybe the children who read this will be compelled to look up t
...more
I found this a little slow to start, but I ended up enjoying it. I am surprised that it won the Newbery - I wouldn't say it was the best book of the year - but it had plenty of laugh out loud moments. I read some of this and listened to some of it on audio, and I have to say that Gantos as the reader really added to my enjoyment of the book.
...more
Enjoyed the characters, setting and humor. The first half was great fun. The ending came out of left field and didn't work for me. For trouble maker kid with eccentric, older lady friend, my heart still belongs to 'Okay for Now.'
...more
EXCELLENT audio book, read by Jack Gantos. Love how all the history is woven into the story.
You've got to listen to this one on audio if you're an audiobook fan, because listening to Jack Gantos read you the story of Jack Gantos is perfection. His voice is quirky and distinctive and serves to highlight all the black humor. The cover does this a disservice, because the story is dark and funny and a bit rambling, but filled with a fascinating sense of history and place and childhood. The whole thing is awash in nosebleeds and dead old ladies, with some fantastic obituaries and an appeara
...more
Loved this book, and it had me laughing out loud. Great audio read by the author.
I liked this book, but I didn't love it. I listened to the audio version read by Jack Gantos himself. In the beginning, I was really into the story...I loved how outrageous and hilarious everything is. He writes in this really unique voice and the story is full of unpredictable details and twists. Near the end, though, I got kind of tired of the story and was just ready for it to end.
I still enjoyed it , though. Truly. Jack Gantos is a piece of work. ...more
I still enjoyed it , though. Truly. Jack Gantos is a piece of work. ...more
While I enjoyed Jack's interactions with Miss Volker, nothing else hung together for me. Echoes of Peck's A Year Down Yonder kept coming to mind and in comparison, this one fell way short.
...more
Great characters, amazing amount of history, hilarious. Ending that made me shake my fist, though. Using it as a read aloud in our 2nd/3rd grade class, and kids love it!
Jack Gantos reads the audio version - I really enjoyed listening to him tell the story.
Jack Gantos is a rock star.
Jul 09, 2011
Sarah
added it
Jan 24, 2012
Astrid Lim
marked it as wishlist
Jan 28, 2012
Jennifer
rated it
liked it
Shelves:
kids,
youngadult,
historicalfiction,
scottodellaward,
newberywinner,
funny,
2012reads,
sljbob2012
