Book Recommendation: DEAD END IN NORVELT

Dead End in Norvelt stars an awesome kid named Jack Gantos, who finds himself very, very grounded after shooting a gun his father brought back from World War II.  In Jack’s defense, he had no idea the gun was loaded when he aimed at the distant drive-in movie screen for some participatory, non-sanctioned viewing.  On the other hand, Jack’s also a kid who, when his mother asks him, “[D]oes your dad know you have all this dangerous war stuff out?” Jack replies, without skipping a beat, “He always lets me play with it as long as I’m careful,” which, as he himself points out a second later, “wasn’t true.”  In fact, Jack quite clearly recollects his father telling him that “This swag will be worth a bundle of money someday, so keep your grubby hands off it.” 

This book reminded me a little bit of The Teacher’s Funeral, in that it’s set in the midwest, and in a different time period (granted, the two books are set years apart, but it’s all history to the modern reader, especially the modern reader under age sixteen).  It’s funny and sweet, and I think it would appeal to kids who like books with crazy facts in them about everything from war to mummies, as those are just the kinds of facts that appeal to young Jack.  Plus, there’s a bunch of dead people, and obituary writing, and mystery, plenty of bloody noses, and an old plane that might just get off the ground again.  It’s all just kind of great, a book that takes flight from the very first scene, with a little boy and a Japanese gun and a distant drive-in movie screen.