Nosebleeds, Groundings and....Obituaries?

Jack Gantos' incredibly entertaining book Dead End in Norvelt tells the story of young Jack Gantos who ends up being grounded for the entire summer.  I know what you're thinking, "how good could this possibly be if the main character is grounded for the whole book?"  Let me assure you-it's good.

You see though Jack is grounded his mother still lets him help others in his community. His elderly
neighbor, Miss Volker, has such bad arthritis that her hands are often unusable so she recruits Jack to help.  What does he help with?  Miss Volker's job is to write the obituaries for all of the original town residents.  Along the way she and Jack get into all kinds of shenanigans and Miss Volker imparts her wealth of town history to Jack.  At times helping Miss Volker is even better than not being grounded!

Written from Jack's perspective, Dead End in Norvelt tells the story of a dying small town from the eyes of a young boy-an imaginative, lovable, highly energetic young boy who is plagued by near constant nosebleeds-at that.  It is impossible not to be hooked (especially if you are an admitted history nerd like myself).

Finding fun even while grounded.....that's kids stuff.