Dead End in Norvelt by Jack Gantos

Dead End in Norvelt

by Jack Gantos

Dead End in Norvelt is a semi-autobiographical novel by the author Jack Gantos.  So, it is not a true autobiography, rather it is a work of fiction based on real events and things from Jack Gantos' life.  At the beginning of the book, we meet Jack who is twelve-years-old in the summer of 1962.  He lives with his parents in the small town of Norvelt, Pennsylvania.  Jack's summer is not off to a good start, though.  He accidentally shot off his father's Japanese rifle in the backyard and has been grounded for the entire summer.  Jack is not allowed to leave his house at all for the whole summer, but there is a stipulation.  He can leave to help out his elderly, arthritic neighbor Miss Volker.  Due to Miss Volker's arthritis, she has a hard time using her hands so she needs Jack to help her out around the house and also with her duties as town coroner.  As the coroner, Miss Volker needs Jack to drive her to wherever there is a dead body in town and he also helps her by typing up the town's obituaries.  Jack expects that his summer is going to be a boring one.  Let's face it, how many people are going to wind up dead in one summer?  But Jack's summer is anything but boring!  First, the old ladies of Norvelt are dropping dead one after another and this leads to a murder mystery investigation.  Jack's father also decides to restore an old plane, Jack has a run in with the Hell's Angels, and there are house fires and nosebleeds galore!  And that's not even half the story!

Dead End in Norvelt is a great read for summer.  It's an easy read that is laugh out loud hilarious.  If you love to laugh and enjoy weird stories, then click here to find Dead End in Norvelt at the Library!

Also, check out this interview with Jack Gantos where he describes more about writing Dead End in Norvelt and how it is based on some real things from Jack's life and why he wanted to write this story.

  

posted by Colleen, Teen Services Librarian

In Honor of Douglas Adams's 60th Birthday...

Douglas Adams would have been 60 today.  In honor of his birthday, pick up his hilarious sci-fi novel, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.   This novel, the first in a series, is a laugh out loud funny account of what happens when the earth is destroyed and earthling Arthur Dent just happens to hitchhike onto to an alien spacecraft right at the end of the world, with his good friend and also alien Ford Prefect.  What follows is the account of Arthur's journey as he travels the galaxy encountering a crazy cast of characters as well as another earthling, Tricia McMillan, who he also happened to meet at a party and asked out, before the end of the earth.  Click here to find The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy at the Library.

If you have already read The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, did you also know that there was this awesomely well-done movie adaptation of the book?

  

Click here to find the movie, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, at the Library.

Also, if you just so happen to be a super fan of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (like me) try out this super awesome Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Infocom Adventure game, found on douglasadams.com.  Click here to find the game, it's a role playing game taking cues from the book and you have to try to stay alive, despite the end of the world and hitchhiking your way through the galaxy, just like Arthur Dent.

posted by Colleen, Teen Services Librarian

Going Bovine by Libba Bray

Going Bovine

by Libba Bray

When I read the summary of Going Bovine:

Cameron Smith, a disaffected sixteen year-old who, after being diagnosed with Creutzfeld Jakob’s (aka mad cow) disease, sets off on a road trip with a death-obsessed video gaming dwarf he meets in the hospital in an attempt to find a cure.

I thought to myself, “self, this is one crazy sounding book.  Why do I want to read this?”  Well, sometimes you just have to take a chance on a book, and that’s what I did, especially because it is a whopping 480 pages and I am a not known as a speedy reader. 

So, this book was hilarious and moving.  It tells a great story about a young guy who never really lived his life until he got sick.  His trip to find the cure for his disease is so completely random, but in the most satisfying way.  Cameron is a character that I think everyone can relate to, at least I did, because he is the everyday man.  He takes his parents and sister for granted, he is not popular in school, and he doesn’t really live his life.  After being diagnosed with Mad Cow disease, which btw one of the symptoms is hallucinations, Cameron will do whatever it takes to get better–including listening to a punk angel named Dulcie, rescuing a garden gnome who is really a Norse god, and driving across the country to track down a scientist that may have his cure but who also may have opened up a black hole.  Bray sets up the whole trip so well, with allusions that it may be one big hallucination, but all along I found myself hoping that it was real.  I will not give away the ending to this strange trip, but I will say it is very satisfying.

posted by Colleen, Teen Services Librarian