Review: Dead End in Norvelt

Dead End in Norvelt by Jack Gantos is the 2012 Newbery Award winner, so because I am trying to read all of this year's Newbery, Caldecott, Geisel, Printz and Pura Belpre winners and honorees, as soon as the winners were announced, I put this on hold at my library.

 

Here is the summary from Amazon:

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.

You guys know that I like to be as honest as possible in my reviews and remarks about books.  But I also don't want to hurt any feelings or make people mad.  Which is why I don't normally write reviews about books I don't like.  But, here goes nothing...

While I don't think that Dead End in Norvelt is a bad book, I don't agree with the committee in choosing it as one of the best books of the year (which, in my mind, is what a Newbery is).  I'm not even sure I would have put it on the short list.  But hey, thats why I'm not on the committee ;)   

I felt the story was really helter-skelter (not in the Manson Family way, but just scattered) and that the ending was rushed.  The possibility of murder wasn't even mentioned until about the last 50 pages and the explanation for why things were happening felt weak (though most explanation for murder are, I'm sure).  

I did like the characters of Jack, Bunny and Miss Volker.  The relationship between Jack and Miss Volker was sweet, and caring in a way that you rarely see nowadays.  And Bunny, well, she's a hoot.   But, liking the characters wasn't enough for me.  

I'm interested in reading your opinions.  Have you read Dead End in Norvelt?  What did you think of it?  If you liked it, could you please explain to me why? (I don't mean that in a condescending way, I'm just curious--maybe I missed something!)

I'm sure this is a great book for someone out there in the blogosphere, but it really wasn't the book for me.