by Jack Gantos
First published 2011
Jack Gantos had big plans for summer vacation until his feuding parents grounded him for life. Now he's stuck in Norvelt with a nosebleed problem that strikes whenever he gets shocked or surprised. His mother loans him out to help Miss Volker, a feisty elderly neighbor who needs assistance with an unusual task. Jack becomes her typist, pecking out obituaries that tell the stories of Norvelt's founding residents. Each death leads to another, and Jack finds himself caught up in increasingly strange events. There's molten wax, Eleanor Roosevelt, twisted promises, and a homemade airplane. Girl Scout cookies play a role, along with a man riding a tricycle and tales of a dancing plague. Voices from the past speak to the present while Hells Angels roar through town. Jack begins to suspect that murder might be involved. As the obituaries pile up, Jack discovers that growing up means navigating a world where the past refuses to stay buried and the future remains uncertain.
Genres: fiction, historical-fiction, coming-of-age, mystery
Vibes: atmospheric, emotional, suspenseful
Tropes: fish-out-of-water, unreliable-narrator
Setting: Norvelt
Period: 20th-century
7 pages · Audio CD · Macmillan Young Listeners