My thoughts
When I first started reading Dead End in Norvelt, I didn't know what to expect. I had not done any external reading or research to know what the book would be about. During the first few chapters, my hopes for the book plummeted, knowing that it was placed in an actual time frame rather than a fictional world. However, once I got further in the book, the details about the people and imagery were much better than standard, because the author was writing about events that actually happened to him.
What really caught my attention in the book, we're the differences in opinions between the characters. I enjoyed reading why Jack's father wanted to leave the town so badly, that he would build an airport in his backyard. I also enjoyed listening to the counterargument made by his mother.
Mrs. Volker also did a great job in the story of tying the whole storyline together. By writing the obituaries of the people who died, she also wrote their opinions pertaining to the continued success of the towns. She made the whole story tie together, because one of Jack's friends was the daughter of a morgician. It helped explain the death of the people better and add mystery with some excitement into the storyline. In one section of the book, Jack dressed up as the grim reaper to find out if an old woman died!
One of the more strange, yet exciting parts of the story was when a member of a bike gang was killed in the town. In a short time after, the rest of the gang showed up and threatened the town's peace as they were burning buildings. Because he was killed while dancing, several people assumed it was some old curse set upon the town by something someone's ancestor did a long time ago. This point was also used to argue why they shouldn't be selling away all of the houses in the town. It was amazing to read this and know that it was a real event that happened!
After reading the entire book, I think that my favorite part of the entire novel was the section where Jack is picked up in his dad's airplane. I think it would have been cool as a young individual to look up in the sky and see your ride home coming and having a plane land in the middle of a baseball field. Whether or not this is just because I am lazy or not, it was my favorite part of the book for both that and the uniqueness of the occurance.
What really caught my attention in the book, we're the differences in opinions between the characters. I enjoyed reading why Jack's father wanted to leave the town so badly, that he would build an airport in his backyard. I also enjoyed listening to the counterargument made by his mother.
Mrs. Volker also did a great job in the story of tying the whole storyline together. By writing the obituaries of the people who died, she also wrote their opinions pertaining to the continued success of the towns. She made the whole story tie together, because one of Jack's friends was the daughter of a morgician. It helped explain the death of the people better and add mystery with some excitement into the storyline. In one section of the book, Jack dressed up as the grim reaper to find out if an old woman died!
One of the more strange, yet exciting parts of the story was when a member of a bike gang was killed in the town. In a short time after, the rest of the gang showed up and threatened the town's peace as they were burning buildings. Because he was killed while dancing, several people assumed it was some old curse set upon the town by something someone's ancestor did a long time ago. This point was also used to argue why they shouldn't be selling away all of the houses in the town. It was amazing to read this and know that it was a real event that happened!
After reading the entire book, I think that my favorite part of the entire novel was the section where Jack is picked up in his dad's airplane. I think it would have been cool as a young individual to look up in the sky and see your ride home coming and having a plane land in the middle of a baseball field. Whether or not this is just because I am lazy or not, it was my favorite part of the book for both that and the uniqueness of the occurance.