★ 美國紐伯瑞兒童文學金牌獎

Melding the entirely true and the wildly fictional, Dead End in Norvelt is a novel about an incredible two months for a kid named Jack Gantos, whose plans for vacation excitement are shot down when he is “grounded for life” by his feuding parents, and whose nose spews bad blood at every little shock he gets.

But plenty of excitement (and shocks) are coming Jack’s way once his mom loans him out to help a feisty old neighbor with a most unusual chore—typewriting obituaries filled with stories about the people who founded his utopian town.

As one obituary leads to another, Jack is launched on a strange adventure involving molten wax, Eleanor Roosevelt, twisted promises, a homemade airplane, Girl Scout cookies, a man on a trike, a dancing plague, voices from the past, Hells Angels . . . and possibly murder.


本書融合真實事件及大膽的想像。故事內容描述小男孩傑克不可思議的暑假生活。傑克原本有個很棒的假期計畫，卻因為被爸媽禁足而泡湯，更糟的是他只要一受驚嚇就會開始流鼻血。

媽媽說如果傑克願意幫老鄰居做些史上最奇怪的差事，就能還他自由，所以傑克就開始他的驚奇和驚嚇之旅。

一開始，傑克為過去創立小鎮的居民打訃聞，但隨著接二連三的死亡事件，傑克開始一場奇異的冒險，過程中牽涉到融化的蠟、前美國第一夫人愛蓮娜羅斯福、瘋狂的承諾、自製飛機、女童子軍的餅乾、騎著三輪車的男人、跳舞病、來自過去的聲音、地獄天使……還有疑似謀殺的事件。


【適讀程度】
 Age Range: 10 - 14 years