Literature Help: Dead End In Norvelt

By Students' Academy

“Dead End In Norvelt” by Jack Gantos was first published in 2011. It is an autobiographical novel. The story revolves around a boy named Jack Gantos. It also describes the author’s childhood in Norvelt, Pennsylvania.

The book was awarded Newbery Medal in 2012 by the American Library Association. “Dead End In Norvelt” was honoured as the year’s most distinguished contribution to the American literature for children.

The book also won Scott O’Dell Award for Historical Fiction in 2012. One of the British reviewers called the book ‘rib-splitting.

Literature Help: Dead End In Norvelt
Copyright
Chapter One: Introduction
Chapter Two: Plot Overview
Chapter Three: Major Characters
Chapter Four: Complete Summary
Chapter Five: Critical Analysis

• Language: English
• Publisher: Raja Sharma
• Release date: Apr 22, 2016
• ISBN: 9781311842046

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Literature Help: Dead End In Norvelt

Copyright

Literature Help: Dead End In Norvelt

Students' Academy

Copyright@2016 Students' Academy

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Chapter One: Introduction

Dead End In Norvelt by Jack Gantos was first published in 2011. It is an autobiographical novel. The story revolves around a boy named Jack Gantos. It also describes the author’s childhood in Norvelt, Pennsylvania.

The book was awarded Newbery Medal in 2012 by the American Library Association. Dead End In Norvelt was honoured as the year’s most distinguished contribution to the American literature for children.

The book also won Scott O’Dell Award for Historical Fiction in 2012. One of the British reviewers called the book ‘rib-splitting.

The characters in the novel use their power to control others. According to one of the reviewers named Josh Lacey, Dead End In Norvelt is a defiantly political novel.

The real hero of the novel is Jack himself but his hometown and the values of the town are equally important in the context of the story.

Chapter Two: Plot Overview

Jack is the central character. He lives with his parents in Norvelt. It is a small town but it has plenty of quirky neighbours. The story begins in the summer of 1962.

Jack has his summer vacation, but he does not enjoy it because he is grounded by his mother for the entire summer. Jack has been involved in certain acts that displeased his parents.

He accidently fired his father’s Japanese sniper rifle at the town’s drive-in movie theatre screen. While firing the gun, Jack actually did not know that it was loaded.

On another occasion, he was caught up in the war that was taking place between his Mom and Dad. Next, he mowed down his mother’s cornfield. These acts infuriated her mother and she grounded Jack for the summer.

He is allowed to leave home only when Miss Volker needs help. She is the town’s elderly medical examiner. She suffers from arthritis. She needs someone to help her write down the obituaries she dictates.

Miss Volker happens to be a former nurse. One day, she fixes his nose by instantly doing surgery on it. Jack has some problem with his nose. Under stress or when he is really scared, blood begins to drip from his nose.

Once, Jack is involved in a mystery. He wants to find out who had loaded his father’s Japanese sniper rifle. He also wants to discover who is killing off the elderly residents of that town. It is clear that they are not dying of certain natural causes.

As the time progresses, more elderly residents begin to die. He wants to get to the bottom of that mystery. However, he must stay out of any kind of trouble.

Bunny Huffer happens to be a spunky tomboy. He is Jack’s friend. Jack’s Dad owns the town’s funeral parlour. Jack keeps thinking about the potential killers. He identifies many people who could be behind all those deaths.

He learns that Mr. Spizz, Miss Volker, and Mr. Huffer have all recently bought poison. The other thing that surprises Jack is that his Mom has been cooking food for all those dead women. When the bodies of those women are discovered, it is revealed that each of them had the half-eaten casseroles in their homes.

In the concluding part of the story, both the mysteries are solved. Jack’s nose stops bleeding. It is disclosed that Jack’s uncle Will is a deer poacher. He had loaded his Dad’s rifle.