Jack Gantos’ book Dead End in Norvelt won the prestigious Newbery Award today after having recently won the Scott O’Dell Award for historical fiction for young people.  The Newbery Award is given to the author of the most outstanding contribution to children’s literature every January by the American Library Association. 

This humorous book tells of an incredible two months in the life of a kid named Jack Gantos in the summer of 1962. He is “grounded for life” and made to help an elderly neighbor type up obituaries filled with stories of the people who founded his utopian town.  This leads to strange adventures and lots of laughs. 

Dave Barry even says “This is a brilliant book, full of history, mystery, and laughs.  It reminded me of my small-town childhood, although my small town was never as delightfully weird as Norvelt.”

Find out more on the library’s catalog here.

Filed under: Book Awards, Uncategorized