Genre 5 Book Reviews - LS 5603

 1. Dead End in Norvelt

A. BIBLIOGRAPHY

Gantos, Jack. 2011. Dead End in Norvelt. New York : Farrar Straus Giroux. ISBN 978-0-374-37993-3

B. PLOT SUMMARY

The book is an autobiographical affair that, like the other Jack books, draws on Jack Gantos’s unique ability to get himself into outlandish situations. Jack is grounded for the summer after shooting at a drive-in movie theater (unknowingly as he did not load the gun beforehand) and is only let out of the house to assist his neighbor Miss Volker with her job as a medical examiner.

Throughout the course of the experience Jack discovers that the elderly women of Norvelt are dying suddenly and the source can be traced to poison. There are multiple suspects including Miss Volker (who recently purchased rat poison) and Jack’s own mother who made casseroles for each of the murder victims, making the food a possible vector for the poison. Eventually Miss Volker is placed under house arrest by the police when baited traps are discovered in her home.

However, another townsperson, Mr. Spizz, confesses to the crimes. He admits that it was a desperate bid to get Miss Volker to marry him before stealing Jack’s car and fleeing police.

The story concludes with bookends: Jack once again vandalizes the drive-in theater (this time with paint) and is ungrounded for the summer.

C. CRITICAL ANALYSIS

Dead End in Norvelt is about the natural bonds of community in a small town, showing both the good and the bad about being in such a tight knit place. It is also about class differences, showing that even in a small town where the citizens are close, it is easy for those lower on the economic ladder to be mislaid by their community. It is only upon their deaths that Volker picks up that something is not right, and even she is uniquely placed as the town medical examiner.

Dead End in Norvelt uses these themes about the upsides and downsides of small communities in order to progress Jack’s development as a person. He is still a young man and will not become fully grown in this book (there is more to be found along these lines in other Jack books) but still learns from the experiences of Norvelt. The murder mystery is the A plot that drives the progression of the novel forwards but since the book is primarily a comedy, it is mainly there as set dressing while Jack finds himself in the middle of many wild scenarios, such as trying to solve the additional mystery of who loaded the hunting rifle.

The book does an excellent job of carrying out its themes and tying them to Jack’s personal growth as an individual. Dead End in Norvelt does not stop at simple pablum about how community bonds are important and that small towns are a great place to find good neighbors: it instead digs into how individuals and our choices are still an important part of this fabric. The Hells’ Angels who literally drive into the story are also making choices, except that their community of bikers is incompatible with Norvelt’s. The conflict between these two sides, symbolized by the theft of the coffin, shows how much work actually goes into maintaining cohesion and harmony. Personal responsibility is still very important in the framework of a group. The essential part of Jack’s growth as a person is his understanding of this dynamic.

D. REVIEW EXCERPTS

• AY CATS - Authors & Illustrators 1997-98 (And Ongoing)

• Best Books For Young Adult Readers 1997 (And Ongoing)

• Bulletin Of The Center For Children's Books-Recommended Titles 1996 (And Ongoing)

• Best Books For Children: Preschool-Grade 6 - Tenth Edition (2015)

• Booklist Reviews 2011 August #1

• Bulletin Of The Center For Children's Books - September 2011

• Book Links 2013

• BookPage Reviews 2011 September

• Core CATS Juvenile Fiction

• Horn Book Guide Reviews 2012 Spring

• Horn Book Magazine Reviews 2011 #5

• Horn Book Magazine Starred Review Titles (Ongoing)

• Kirkus Reviews 2011 April #2

• Kirkus Starred Reviews - Ongoing

• Kirkus Reviews 2011 August #2

• Kansas William Allen White Childrens Book Award Nominees 2004-05 (And Ongoing)

• LEDA

• LEDZ

• LJ BookSmack

• Library Media Connection Reviews 2011 November/December

• Maine Student Book Award Nominees 1997 (And Ongoing)

• Newbery Medal/Honor Books (Ongoing)

• Notable Children's Books 1997 (And Ongoing)

• North Carolina Battle Of The Books Nominees 2003-04 (And Ongoing)

• New Jersey Battle Of The Books Nominees Grades 7-8 2003-04 (And Ongoing)

• New Jersey Garden State Fiction Book Award Nominees 2004 (And Ongoing)

• New Mexico Battle Of The Books Childrens Book Award Nominees 2003-04 (And Ongoing)

• Oklahoma Sequoyah Book Award Nominees 2005 (And Ongoing)

• Oregon Reader's Choice Award Nominees And Winners 2012-2013 (And Ongoing)

• Pennsylvania Young Readers Choice Book Award Nominees Grade 6-8 2003-04 (And Ongoing)

• Publishers Weekly Starred Reviews - Ongoing

• School Core - Middle School - Fiction

• SLJ Reviews 2011 September

• Tennessee Volunteer State Book Awards 1998-99 (And Ongoing)

• PW Reviews 2011 July #4

• Wall Street Journal Book Review - September 2011 #2-Reviews

• Wisconsin Battle Of The Books Award Nominees 2005-06 (And Ongoing)

• Wyoming Indian Paintbrush Book Award Nominees 2003-04 (And Ongoing)

• CATS Teen Leasing (Hardcover) July 2011

• Fast Facts - February 2012 #1

• Growing Minds-August 2011

• Booklist, Ian Chipman:

Looks like a bummer of a summer for 11-year-old Jack (with a same-name protagonist, it’s tempting to assume that at least some of this novel comes from the author’s life). After discharging his father’s WWII-souvenir Japanese rifle and cutting down his mom’s fledgling cornfield, he gets grounded for the rest of his life or the rest of the summer of 1962, whichever comes first. Jack gets brief reprieves to help an old neighbor write obituaries for the falling-like-flies original residents of Norvelt, a dwindling coal-mining town. Jack makes a tremendously entertaining tour guide and foil for the town’s eccentric citizens, and his warmhearted but lightly antagonistic relationship with his folks makes for some memorable one-upmanship. Gantos, as always, deliver bushels of food for thought and plenty of outright guffaws, though the story gets stuck in neutral for much of the midsection. When things pick up again near the end of the summer, surprise twists and even a quick-dissolve murder mystery arrive to pay off patient readers. Those with a nose for history will be especially pleased.

• Publishers Weekly:
  
  A bit of autobiography works its way into all of Gantos's work, but he one-ups himself in this wildly entertaining meld of truth and fiction by naming the main character... Jackie Gantos. Like the author, Jackie lives for a time in Norvelt, a real Pennsylvania town created during the Great Depression and based on the socialist idea of community farming. Presumably (hopefully?) the truth mostly ends there, because Jackie's summer of 1962 begins badly: plagued by frequent and explosive nosebleeds, Jackie is assigned to take dictation for the arthritic obituary writer, Miss Volker, and kept alarmingly busy by elderly residents dying in rapid succession. Then the Hells Angels roll in. Gore is a Gantos hallmark but the squeamish are forewarned that Jackie spends much of the book with blood pouring down his face and has a run-in with home cauterization. Gradually, Jackie learns to face death and his fears straight on while absorbing Miss Volker's theories about the importance of knowing history. "The reason you remind yourself of the stupid stuff you've done in the past is so you don't do it again."

E. CONNECTIONS

• Other books by Jack Gantos:

Jack Adrift: Fourth Grade Without A Clue by Jack Gantos. ISBN 9780786263875

Jack on the Tracks: Four Seasons of Fifth Grade by Jack Gantos. ISBN 9780374437176

Heads or Tails: Stories from the Sixth Grade by Jack Gantos. ISBN 9781429979115

Hole in My Life by Jack Gantos. ISBN 9780312641573

2. Breaking Stalin's Nose

A. BIBLIOGRAPHY

Yelchin, Eugene. 2011. Breaking Stalin's Nose. New York : Henry Holt. ISBN 9780805092165

B. PLOT SUMMARY

Our protagonist Sasha is the son of a respected member of the Communist party in the USSR. Sasha’s aspirations include joining the Young Soviet Pioneers, a youth group that will help keep his family in good standing. Sasha also hopes that it will bring him closer to his personal hero, Joseph Stalin, whom he idolizes.

But even being a respected member of the Party is not enough to keep them safe: Sasha’s father is arrested based off the accusation of a jealous neighbor who wants to use the space designated for Sasha’s family and falsely accuses Sasha’s father in order to get it. Sasha is left homeless and his own flesh and blood turns him away without giving him a place to live. Sasha is forced to go to school and face the scorn and suspicion of his fellow ten-year-old classmates. The class room proceeds to play out the current state of Soviet society in miniature: students report on each other for petty motives or else because they are trying to stay in good standing with the Party. Sasha himself tries to hold on to his idolization of Stalin and the Communist Party but his preconceptions are crumbling without his permission. This is symbolized by Sasha accidentally breaking the nose off of a statue of Stalin overlooking the school.

Sasha survives the school day by the skin of his teeth and with the help of unlikely allies who tried to turn him in to the school observers that morning. He decides to go to the prison to visit his father resulting in him standing in a line that will take several days to move through. Sasha receives unexpected grace from an old woman who offers him housing and a potato to eat. They keep each other company in line and the book ends without revealing what they find when they get to the top.

C. CRITICAL ANALYSIS

Breaking Stalin's Nose is similar to Dead End in Norvelt where it is semi-autobiographical in drawing on the author’s personal experiences that are then used to color the story with details. This was a delightful read for me as I minored in Russian Studies when pursuing my History degree at my undergrad. Eugene Yelchin uses his personal experiences growing up in Russia during the 1960s to great effect and draws an intimate portrait of how fractured Russian society has become under Soviet rule.

Unlike the close community ties in Norvelt, Stalinist Russia actively discourages community building. Instead citizens are encouraged to report on each other with the constant threat of retribution from the Party hanging over them if they do not. Such a system is dehumanizing to say the least, and even Sasha’s father who is a company man through and through is not spared the machinations of this system when a jealous neighbor wants to move his family into their assigned space. And yet, what choice does their jealous neighbor has? Under the rules of communal living in the Soviet Union it is impossible for him to get additional space for his family in any other way. The system is deliberately designed to pit citizens against each other in this way.

Notably it is when Sasha’s idolization about Stalin and the Party begin to break down that he finds common ground with another citizen. Instead of selling out his classmates to the Party observers at the elementary school he finds someone to stick together with and then selflessly goes to the prison to visit his father. This act nets him the goodwill of a lonely old woman who provides him with a bed and food. Sasha has demonstrated the only way to break out of the system: by not giving in to the dehumanization of the system. (This echoes the sentiments written in Václav Havel’s essay “The Power of the Powerless” but it is too extensive to get into in this space.) By not partaking in this dehumanization of his classmates, Sasha tears a small hole in the fabric of the post-totalitarian society created by the Communist Party which lets him receive humanity from another citizen in return.

D. REVIEW EXCERPT(S)

• AY CATS - Series 2003 (And Ongoing)

• Bulletin Of The Center For Children's Books-Recommended Titles 1996 (And Ongoing)

• Booklist Reviews 2011 October #2

• Bulletin Of The Center For Children's Books - November 2011

• Book Links 2016

• Core CATS Juvenile Fiction

• Core CATS Multicultural

• Horn Book Guide Reviews 2012 Spring

• Horn Book Magazine Reviews 2011 #5

• Horn Book Magazine Starred Review Titles (Ongoing)

• Illinois Rebecca Caudill Young Readers Book Award Nominees 2004 (And Ongoing)

• Indiana Young Hoosier Book Award Nominees 2005-06 (And Ongoing)

• Kirkus Reviews 2011 August #1

• Kansas William Allen White Childrens Book Award Nominees 2004-05 (And Ongoing)

• LEDA

• LEDZ

• Library Media Connection Reviews 2012 January/February

• Michigan Great Lakes Children's Book Award Nominees 2004 (And Ongoing)

• Minnesota Maud Hart Lovelace Book Award Nominees 2003-04 (And Ongoing)

• Newbery Medal/Honor Books (Ongoing)

• Notable Children's Books 1997 (And Ongoing)

• New Mexico Battle Of The Books Childrens Book Award Nominees 2003-04 (And Ongoing)

• Notable Social Studies Trade Books For Young People - 2012

• Notable Social Studies Trade Books For Young People - 2005 (And Ongoing)

• SLJ Reviews 2011 August

• PW Reviews 2011 August #1

• Wall Street Journal Book Review - October 2011 #1-Reviews

• CLS Opening Day Collections Audit-June 2002 (And Ongoing)

• CATS Childrens Leasing July 2011

• CATS Childrens Leasing August 2011

• CATS Childrens Leasing September 2011

• Growing Minds-August 2011

• Publisher’s Weekly
  
  Picture book author/illustrator Yelchin (Won Ton) makes an impressive middle-grade debut with this compact novel about a devoted young Communist in Stalin-era Russia, illustrated with dramatically lit spot art. Ten-year-old Sasha lives with his father, a State Security secret policeman whom he worships (almost as much as he worships Stalin), and 46 others in a communal apartment. The story opens on the eve of the fulfillment of Sasha's dream—to become a Young Soviet Pioneer—and traces the downward spiral of the following 24 hours, as he resists his growing understanding that his beloved Communist state is far from ideal. Through Sasha's fresh and optimistic voice, Yelchin powerfully renders an atmosphere of fear that forces false confessions, even among schoolchildren, and encourages neighbors and family members to betray one another without evidence. Readers will quickly pick up on the dichotomy between Sasha's ardent beliefs and the reality of life under Stalinism, and be glad for his ultimate disillusion, even as they worry for his future. An author's note concisely presents the chilling historical background and personal connection that underlie the story.
  
  

• School Library Journal, Renee Steinberg
  
  Velchin skillfully combines narrative with dramatic black-and-white illustrations to tell the story of life in the Soviet Union under Stalin. Sasha Zaichik, the 10-year-old son of a member of the secret police, is bursting with pride because he is ready to become a Young Pioneer. He is equally excited that his father will be officiating at the ceremony. But then he watches as his father is taken away to prison, turned in by a neighbor vying for bigger living quarters. Sasha joins his peers in taunting Borka Finkelstein, their only Jewish classmate, even though readers sense that he doesn't really want to do it. The question of who is a good Communist underlies much of the plot. The book's intriguing title refers to Sasha's accidentally breaking the nose off a bust of Stalin. Borka, desperate to see his imprisoned parents, confesses to the action, with the hope that he will be taken to prison, too. Sasha does not admit his own guilt. Eventually disillusionment overtakes homeless Sasha as he waits in line to visit his father. Velchin's illustrations are filled with pathos and breathe life into the narrative. Though there are many two-dimensional characters, mostly among the adults, Sasha and Borka are more fully drawn. While the story was obviously created to shed light on the oppression, secrecy, and atrocities under Stalin's regime, Sasha's emotions ring true. This is an absorbing, quick, multilayered read in which predictable and surprising events intertwine. Velchin clearly dramatizes the dangers of blindly believing in anything. Along with Ruta Sepetys's Between Shades of Gray (Philomel, 2011), this selection gives young people a look at this dark history.

E. CONNECTIONS

• Other books by Eugene Yelchin:

The Genius Under the Table: Growing Up Behind the Iron Curtain by Eugene Yelchin. ISBN 9781536215526

Spy Runner by Eugene Yelchin. ISBN 9781250120816

• “The Power of the Powerless” by Václav Havel. https://www.nonviolent-conflict.org/resource/the-power-of-the-powerless/

3. Hattie Big Sky

A. BIBLIOGRAPHY

Larson, Kirby. 2006. Hattie Big Sky. Delacorte Press. ISBN 9781439521410

B. PLOT SUMMARY

Hattie Brooks is a sixteen-year-old girl orphaned at a young age, and unwanted by her family. Through a stroke of luck, she receives a letter from a dead relative with a deed to a homestead in Montana. The homestead is hers if she can manage the upkeep on it for a year. Driven by the urgent desire to no longer be a burden to her remaining family members, Hattie leaves for Montana in 1917. When she gets to the homestead she discovers that the lifestyle is much harder than she expected but thanks to the kindness of her neighbors she is able to survive the winter.

Through out her journey she encounters many colorful characters in an adventure worthy of Gunsmoke: she has to fend off the courtship attempts of a neighbor trying to marry her in order to take her land, anti-German sentiment is on the rise in her community, and the ranch struggles with bad weather and a lack of money. Through her letters to her Uncle Holt and her best friend Charlie, she has an appreciation for the wider world. She especially gets another window into anti-German sentiment as Charlie tells her about his adventures in Europe, including the moment where his friend is killed on the battlefield which brings home to him how much tragedy is inherent to war no matter which side you are fighting on.

Hattie overcomes many obstacles but she eventually takes on too much debt and must leave the homestead. She leaves with a new perspective, having grown up and learned many lessons to take forward into the future.

C. CRITICAL ANALYSIS

Hattie Big Sky is definitely a traditional coming of age story for a teenage protagonist but Kirby Larson demonstrates why there is nothing wrong with reworking old tropes. Like Gantos and Yelchin, Larson draws on the personal experiences and history of her family in telling this story. This infuses the tale with authenticity. The details of the homesteading business are woven into the story and lend it dramatic tension as the primary driver of the plot and Hattie's character development. The tension from the interpersonal play between her and human threats as well as her allies once again underlines the role that community plays in the lives of human beings.

In Norvelt the community aspect was already in place and being disrupted; in Stalin's Nose the community has been decimated and must be rebuilt between individuals; in Hattie Big Sky there are many people eager to create a community with the new comer. This reinforces the bonds they have with each other but it demonstrates that not all relationships are pleasant, good, or beneficial.

Hattie Big Sky is an excellent historical novel that depicts the lived experience of the pioneers out on the frontier who tried to make a life there. It does not shy away from showing us failure but Larson also demonstrates just how failure is a teacher, and not a reason to give up.

D. REVIEW EXCERPT(S)

• Best Books For High School Readers: Grades 9-12 - Second Edition (2009)

• Best Books For Middle And Junior High Readers: Grades 6-9 - Second Edition (2009)

• ALA Best Books For Young Adults 1997 (And Ongoing)

• Bulletin Of The Center For Children's Books-Recommended Titles 1996 (And Ongoing)

• Books For Growing Minds-September 2006

• Booklist Editors Choice 2006

• Booklist Starred Reviews - Ongoing

• Booklist Reviews 2006 September #1

• Books For The Teen Age 2007

• Bulletin Of The Center For Children's Books - March 2007

• California Young Readers Medal Program Nominees 2003-04 (And Ongoing)

• Horn Book Guide Reviews 2007 Spring

• Iowa Teen Award Nominees 2005-06 (And Ongoing)

• Indiana Young Hoosier Book Awards Nominees Grade 7-9 1997-98 (And Ongoing)

• Kirkus Reviews 2006 September #1

• Kliatt - September 2006

• Kansas William Allen White Childrens Book Award Nominees 2004-05 (And Ongoing)

• Maine Student Book Award Nominees 1997 (And Ongoing)

• Missouri Gateway Readers Book Award Nominees 2004-05 (And Ongoing)

• Newbery Medal/Honor Books (Ongoing)

• Newbery & Caldecott Medal & Honor Books (Ongoing)

• Pennsylvania Young Readers Choice Book Award Nominees Young Adult 2004-05 (And Ongoing)

• SLJ Reviews 2006 November

• School Library Journal Best Books Of The Year (Ongoing)

• School Library Journal Starred Reviews - Ongoing

• Tennessee Volunteer State Book Award Nominees Young Adult 2004-05 (And Ongoing)

• Vermont Dorothy Canfield Fisher Childrens Book Award Nominees 2003-04 (And Ongoing)

E. CONNECTIONS

• Laura Ingalls Wilder's House on the Prairie series

• Papa and the Pioneer Quilt by Jean Van Leeuwen; Rebecca Bond. ISBN 9780803730281

• 1918 by Libby Gleeson. ISBN 9781743622513

• Dogs of War by Sheila Keenan; Nathan Fox; Rico Renzi; Guy Major. ISBN 9780545128872

• Archie's War: My Scrapbook of the First World War 1914-1918 by Marcia Williams. ISBN 9781406352689