Naomi lives in the small town of Blackbird Tree. It is not named because of the shape of its trees, however, but for the many blackbirds that live in those trees. Blackbird Tree is a bit of a tragic place, where most of the children have experienced some sort of loss. Naomi is unsurprisingly a bit of a pessimist. After losing her mother as an infant, and her father in a tragic accident, she has been in the care of Joe and Nula. But she has always felt a little off kilter about the whole thing. What if someone comes to take her away? What if bad things instead of good things start coming out of the donkey's ear from the story that Joe tells?
One fateful day, a boy falls out of a tree right in front of Naomi. She's not sure if he's real or not-real, so she is happy when her friend Lizzie comes by and lets her know that she can indeed see this boy laying unconscious on the ground. Where Naomi dwells in the quiet places, Lizzie fills the air with her words, which can be both comforting and bothersome at once. She fusses over the boy when he comes to, and worries after "Finn boy" who says that he is staying up on the hill with the dim Dimmenses.
Finn has awoken something in Naomi, and she finds that she cannot stop thinking about him. Each time she runs into him she asks Finn about his life, but he would much prefer to talk to Naomi about hers. He seems odd, however, visiting the folks in town that others normally steer clear of - folks like Crazy Cora, or Witch Wiggins. When Finn asks Naomi where he can find Elizabeth Scatterding, who just happens to be Naomi's Lizzie, she finds herself consumed with jealousy.
Meanwhile over in Ireland, Sybil and her caretaker Miss Pilpenny are plotting revenge. Living at Rook's Orchard, Sybil has enlisted the help of a solicitor to help her with the perfect plan. There is a Finn boy who used to live there, as well.
Creech has woven together a magical story about family and friendship and the ties that bind. Each character, no matter how seemingly small is tied to another, and readers will find themselves spell bound from considering the ways in which this is possible in their own lives. Naomi herself often wonders about the connections between people and places -
"But I thought about all the things that had to have spun into place in order for us to be alive and for us to be right there, right then. I thought about the few things we thought we knew and the billions of things we couldn't know, all spinning, whirling out there somehow." (p 223 arc)
The Great Unexpected is a story that defies categorization in terms of story and of audience. Found within its pages are mystery and magic, old and young, boys and girls, rich and poor. I just finished it an hour ago, and I already want to read it again!
Gantos, Jack. 2011.
Dead End in Norvelt. New York: Macmillan.
I don't know how much of
Dead End in Norvelt, featuring the fictionalized Jack Gantos, is true and how much is not, but I'll venture that the author Jack Gantos had a secure (albeit austere) childhood with two well-meaning, working-class parents, a tendency for nosebleeds, and a few very quirky neighbors.
Bomb shelters, WWII surplus equipment, a dying town, the Hell's Angels, a local newspaper, the sharp-tongued elderly neighbor, Miss Volker, and of course, Jack Gantos and his family are the foils for a very funny, yet affecting book of life in rural, post-war America.
The story begins as young Jack is grounded for the summer due to an unfortunate incident involving a loaded firearm and the drive-in theater. Things get progressively worse as Jack, following his father's orders, mows down the cornfield to make room for a bomb-shelter, which in actuality is merely cover for a private airstrip. The usually kindly and practical Mrs. Gantos quickly takes charge of her two wayward men,
"Well, mister," she informed me with no trace of sympathy in her voice, "I'm going to march your father into this room and make him cut you down to size. And when he finishes with you I'll make him wish he had already built that bomb shelter because he might be living in it." ... It took two days for Dad to march into my room and cut me down to size. He knew he had gotten me in trouble with Mom and so he quickly wrangled a construction job in West Virginia for a couple days of paid work. He thought Mom might cool down, but he could have been away for two years and she would still have been just as angry. It was as if she could preserve her anger and store it in a glass jar next to the hot horseradish and yellow beans and corn chowchow she kept in the dank basement pantry. And when she needed some anger she could just go into the basement and open a jar and get worked up all over again.
Throughout the long, hot summer, Jack's only respite from digging the bomb shelter and reading in his room are the frequent calls from the elderly Miss Volker, the town medical examiner and writer of obituaries for the local paper. Her arthritic hands prevent her from typing and Mrs. Gantos, ever solicitous of neighbor's needs, sends Jack to help. In doing so, Jack learns much more than the history of his town, founded by Eleanor Roosevelt.
Realistic fiction with a humorous and historical twist,
Dead End in Norvelt is one of the year's best novels.
Best for grades 6 and up.
It's interesting that many of the best books in recent memory, including Dead End in Norvelt, prominently feature a wise, older or elderly non-relatives (Moon Over Manifest, Okay for Now, Wendy Mass' Birthday series, I'm sure there are more). Unfortunately, although these books are realistic fiction, there are far too few of these older, helpful, non-relatives in reality. If you are in a position to be one, please do!There is an abundance of resources available for
Dead End in Norvelt. Enjoy!
This sounds delightful! I'm so glad to have found your blog. :) I'm working on my Master's in secondary English education, hoping to to teach middle school, so I'm always looking for great recommendations for middle grades books. Excellent review, I can't wait for this to be released!