From Norvelt to Nowhere — Content Guide for Parents
Found in this book
- ViolenceCentral
- Scary contentBrief
- Race & cultureBrief
- Gender rolesBriefTraditional roles
Not found
- Religion
- Profanity
- Climate
- Sexual content
- Gender & orientation
Content themes
Factual summary of themes present in this book. No opinion — just the facts.
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Summaries and source quotes for every theme.
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Religion
PRESENTContains references to prayer and church attendance. A minister character plays a supporting role in two chapters.
About this book
This rocket-paced follow-up to the Newbery Medal–winning novel Dead End in Norvelt opens deep in the shadow of the Cuban missile crisis. But instead of Russian warheads, other kinds of trouble are raining down on young Jack Gantos and his utopian town of Norvelt in western Pennsylvania. After an explosion, a new crime by an old murderer, and the sad passing of the town's founder, twelve-year-old Jack will soon find himself launched on a mission that takes him hundreds of miles away, escorting his slightly mental elderly mentor, Miss Volker, on her relentless pursuit of the oddest of outlaws. But as their trip turns south in more ways than one, it's increasingly clear that the farther from home they travel, the more off-the-wall Jack and Miss Volker's adventure becomes, in From Norvelt to Nowhere, a raucous road novel about roots and revenge, a last chance at love, and the power of a remarkable friendship.
A Publishers Weekly Best Children's Book of 2013
Frequently asked questions
Is From Norvelt to Nowhere appropriate for a 7-year-old?
A character is poisoned early on, and for most of the book elderly Miss Volker tries to kill the man she believes did it, including throwing a whaling harpoon at him from a car, though the guide calls it more cartoony than scary. There is a poisoning, a nighttime graveyard showdown, harpoon chases, a classroom panic during a missile-crisis scare and a gothic ending in a funeral home, though the guide says it is more cartoony than scary.
Does From Norvelt to Nowhere have violence?
Found (Central): A character is poisoned early on, and for most of the book elderly Miss Volker tries to kill the man she believes did it, including throwing a whaling harpoon at him from a car, though the guide calls it more cartoony than scary.
Does From Norvelt to Nowhere have scary content?
Found (Brief): There is a poisoning, a nighttime graveyard showdown, harpoon chases, a classroom panic during a missile-crisis scare and a gothic ending in a funeral home, though the guide says it is more cartoony than scary.
Does From Norvelt to Nowhere have religion?
Not found in the sources we checked.
Does From Norvelt to Nowhere have race & culture?
Found (Brief): Miss Volker's history lessons include Native American history and Lincoln's order to hang thirty-eight Sioux men, and a friend's Halloween costume as an "Indian" is noted by a reviewer.
Does From Norvelt to Nowhere have profanity?
Not found in the sources we checked.
Does From Norvelt to Nowhere have climate?
Not found in the sources we checked.
Does From Norvelt to Nowhere have sexual content?
Not found in the sources we checked.
Does From Norvelt to Nowhere have gender roles?
Found (Brief, Traditional roles): Jack's mother says that young women are needed to keep Norvelt from disappearing and that towns without them become full of wild men.
Does From Norvelt to Nowhere have gender & orientation?
Not found in the sources we checked.
