From Norvelt to Nowhere by Jack Gantos - 2014

From Norvelt to Nowhere by Jack Gantos
Farrar, Straus and Giroux
278p.

Summary:

After an explosion, a new crime by an old murderer, and the sad passing of the founder of Norvelt, Pennsylvania, twelve-year-old Jack accompanies his slightly mental elderly mentor, Miss Volker, on a cross-country run as she pursues the oddest of outlaws.

Dead End in Norvelt by Jack Gantos

Dead End in Norvelt by Jack Gantos
Farrar Strauss Giroux
2011
341p.

In the historic town of Norvelt, Pennsylvania, twelve-year-old Jack Gantos spends the summer of 1962 grounded for various offenses until he is assigned to help an elderly neighbor with a most unusual chore involving the newly dead, molten wax, twisted promises, Girl Scout cookies, underage driving, lessons from history, typewriting, and countless bloody noses.