Newbery Winner

I just finished reading Dead End in Norvelt by Jack Gantos. I was thinking of doing a post and then heard it was the Newbery winner, so that gave me the added incentive to get this done! I saw Gantos at the National Book Festival in September. You can see his talk if you go to this site: http://www.loc.gov/bookfest/author/jack_gantos/
He is hilarious, had the audience in stitches. He could definitely make a living as a stand-up comic. But, the book? Not so much. It kind of stretched on and on, the main character was likable, but the whole thing was just not what I look for in a good children's book. Interesting that the whole Newbery Committee could be so wrong. (Oh, that was said tongue in cheek!) Well, if you get bogged down in the book, like I did, just check out his National Book Fair talk. You'll get the gist of the story and it is quicker and pain free!