The 2012 Newbery Medal winner is Dead End in Norvelt by Jack Gantos (published by Farrar Straus Giroux, who also published Rosemary Sutcliff in the USA). The importance of history and reading is at the heart of this “achingly funny romp” (according to the Newberry website) through a dying New Deal town. It tells the story of two months in the life of a boy named Jack Gantos, whose plans for vacation adventure are suddenly ruined when he is grounded by his feuding parent.  “Who knew obituaries and old lady death could be this funny and this tender?” said Viki Ash, chair of the Committee deciding the award. Anyone who reads this blog have a view?  

The Newbery Medal is awarded to the author of the “most distinguished contribution to American literature for children”. It was named after the eighteenth-century British bookseller John Newbery. It is awarded every year by the Association for Library Service to Children, which is a division of the American Library Association.