Eat, Read, and Be Mommy

I finished listening to Jack Gantos’ From Norvelt to Nowhere last night, and WOW. Dead End in Norvelt was definitely a bizarre sort of funny, but it was also a meaty sort, if you know what I mean. Its sequel is kind of all over the map; it’s got a shade of “Murder by Death”, something of the road trip zaniness of “It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World,” and lots of talk about white whales and Captain Ahab. Eleanor Roosevelt’s death and a new murder in Norvelt are the catalyst for Miss Volker and Jack to head to D.C. and then Florida (it’s a long story), by train and then VW Bug. Spizz is hovering around, but he’s not the only one also heading south, and by the end, following the thread of who’s really doing what versus who’s pretending gets a little nuts. The climax is satisfying, in a crazy way, but there’s a surprise “what really happened?” afterward that messed with my head a little. Ultimately, I preferred the first book–it was definitely more character-driven–but the target audience will probably be wildly entertained by the sequel. Either way, it’s a book about a boy that doesn’t rely on bathroom humor.

That’s ALWAYS a win for me.