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Dead End in Norvelt
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This rocket-paced follow-up to the Newbery Medal–winning novel Dead End in Norvelt opens deep in the shadow of the Cuban missile crisis. But instead of Russian warheads, other kinds of trouble are raining down on young Jack Gantos and his utopian town of Norvelt in western Pennsylvania. After an explosion, a new crime by an old murderer, and the sad passing of the town’s founder, 12-year-old Jack will soon find himself launched on a mission that takes him hundreds of miles away.
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- Written by: Jack Gantos
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This rocket-paced follow-up to the Newbery Medal–winning novel Dead End in Norvelt opens deep in the shadow of the Cuban missile crisis. But instead of Russian warheads, other kinds of trouble are raining down on young Jack Gantos and his utopian town of Norvelt in western Pennsylvania. After an explosion, a new crime by an old murderer, and the sad passing of the town’s founder, 12-year-old Jack will soon find himself launched on a mission that takes him hundreds of miles away.
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The Tale of Despereaux
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- Written by: Kate DiCamillo
- Narrated by: Graeme Malcolm
- Length: 3 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 6
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 5
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 5
This is the story of Despereaux Tilling, a mouse in love with music, stories, and a princess named Pea. It is also the story of a rat called Roscuro, who lives in darkness but covets a world filled with light. And it is the story of Miggery Sow, a slow-witted serving girl with a simple, impossible wish. These characters are about to embark on a journey that will lead them down into a horrible dungeon, up into a glittering castle, and ultimately, into each other's lives.
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Twelve-year-old Crow has lived her entire life on a tiny, isolated piece of the starkly beautiful Elizabeth Islands in Massachusetts. Abandoned and set adrift on a small boat when she was just hours old, Crow's only companions are Osh, the man who rescued and raised her, and Miss Maggie, their fierce and affectionate neighbor across the sandbar.
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- Length: 4 hrs and 30 mins
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 40
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 34
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 33
Stanley Yelnats isn't so surprised when a miscarriage of justice sends him to a juvenile detention center. After all, his family has been ridden with bad luck ever since a one-legged gypsy put a curse on his great-great grandfather. He is told that the hard labor he must perform, digging five-foot holes in the dried up soil where Green Lake once sat, is meant to build character. But it soon becomes clear to Stanley that the warden is really using the boys to search for something very valuable.
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5 out of 5 stars
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holes
- By Amazon Customer on 2019-12-02
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Fish in a Tree
- Written by: Lynda Hunt
- Narrated by: Kathleen McInerney
- Length: 5 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 11
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 10
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 11
Ally has been smart enough to fool a lot of smart people. Every time she lands in a new school, she is able to hide her inability to read by creating clever yet disruptive distractions. She is afraid to ask for help; after all, how can you cure dumb? However, her newest teacher Mr. Daniels sees the bright, creative kid underneath the trouble maker. With his help, Ally learns not to be so hard on herself and that dyslexia is nothing to be ashamed of.
Publisher's Summary
Winner of the John Newbery Metal for the best children's book of 2011.
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 chore - typewriting 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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Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 2018-09-16
So Much Potential!
Gantos is great ("Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key" is outstanding!). So, given that this won the Newbery and has such a fun title and premise, I admit I was disappointed by this one. It didn't grab me and while I like Gantos' voice, it didn't breath any more life into this story than was already there. Perhaps I should give it another go and see why others - critics and readers alike - enjoy this one as much as they do. #Audible1
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- colleen
- 2012-03-21
credit worthy
Original, entertaining and funny. Norvelt is an amusing story that could be recommended to anyone at any age.
6 of 7 people found this review helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Rachel - Audible
- 2017-10-17
A Demented Little Nugget of a Book
I love love LOVE this demented little nugget of a book. No children's writer is more twisted or morbid than Jack Gantos, which is what makes him the BEST. In this Newbery-winning novel, twelve-year-old Jack gets grounded and spends the summer of 1962 helping a feisty old witch write obituaries for all the little old ladies in Norvelt, Pennsylvania, who may or may not be getting slowly poisoned to death. Meanwhile, Hells Angels move in down the road and start burning local houses to the ground, and the next door neighbors start up a funeral parlor. This is a great novel about what it's like to be young, bored, and grounded, and in the funniest scene OF ALL TIME since Barbara Park wrote Skinnybones, Jack describes his method for noiselessly scaring deer away during his dad's hunting trip. (Spoiler: it's farts.) Gantos' deadpan humor translates best when he reads it out loud; I can't recommend the audio highly enough!
2 of 2 people found this review helpful
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- Jan
- 2012-02-06
Can't believe it won the Newberry...
Bought this book right after learning it was the Newberry winner, I usually love the books they select. The plot had so much potential and I wanted to like it. Actually had to force myself to finish it to see if the end was so great it made up for the beginning. Found it a jerky ride of manic tangents and multiple themes barely held together in a story so random and contrived that I couldn't force myself to suspend disbelief.
I was sick of nosebleeds, old ladies being murdered and frequent, irritating "faux" swearing (like cheeses crust) by multiple persons, which as read by reader sounded like normal swearing. The main character is a young teen who speaks, thinks and evaluates like an old man looking back rather than a teen experiencing the events. All the characters are quirky and felt manufactured. The setting in the 50's didn't feel real either, a bomb shelter being dug in the back yard does not an era make.
Someone obviously likes it, but many books in the past few years just earning "honors" and not the award are much better.
8 of 11 people found this review helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Dr.
- 2013-02-03
Read a young adult book with excellent writiing
Where does Dead End in Norvelt rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?
The chraacters are charming. Imaginie the protagonist beiing grounded for the whole summer except when he gos to help an elderly lady who writes obits. She is a fabulous writer, we shoul all have such a gifted writer. She iincludes significent history among her writings, historical facts you will enjoy remembering and surprised you'd forgotten. Norvlt is a real place and you ned to know what it means.
Who was your favorite character and why?
Jack and Miss Volker--together they make the story roll.
What about Jack Gantos’s performance did you like?
He has a gift for humor and plays on words. You won't put this book down or begin to think about how small towns begin to meet their demise.
If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?
No film for this book
3 of 4 people found this review helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Sheila D. Despain
- 2015-06-28
Great story for YA and adults
I enjoyed the history and the humor in this book. I think young boys would especially enjoy it.
2 of 3 people found this review helpful
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- Gerald McKay
- 2019-09-03
It got repetitive
Mr. Gantos is really good at reading his own work.
I started to get sick hearing about nosebleeds and Eleanor Roosevelt about a third of the way through the book.
He has talent, but this got tedious.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Carolyn M
- 2019-07-25
Wonderful
What a funny, slightly dark, creative story. My 11yo son and I both loved it.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- m chappelone
- 2019-05-23
You are reading this
I loved this book so much... listened to it 3 times in 6 months! MUST LISTEN!!
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Hope J.
- 2019-03-07
Best book ive listed to so far, its exiting!
It's a nice long book, its very fun and after every chapter you want to read more. The chapter always end at a cliffhanger so you want to keep reading. The Nairriater is very good and it just so happens to be the author. The voice for it is verry compelling and has alot of emotion to the words. The narration allows you to understand what is happening by the way it is told. The story is great for boys and girls around the age of 10-12 Boys will most likely enjoy it more. For girls it has alot of war stuff but overall its pretty good for both boys and girls. I love how it has verry funny parts in the book. And also some parts that who interest most readers. the story overall is a great to listen to, i couldn't stop listening once I started. This is a great book and recommend it to everyone.
Praise to,
Jack Gantos
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Lana n Ryan Cole
- 2018-10-25
A dead end town, with a 5 star story! 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
This was a delightful Newbery winner. A story full of history and all the quirky people of a small, dead end town... Norvelt. Loved it! Will be posting a full review on my blog as I work toward reading all of the Newbery Winners.
Www.colecampfireblog.com