Cover2Cover - Final Thoughts for the Year

Well, the second year of the Cover2Cover book club has come to a close and it was a big success!

We had our last meeting on May 16th, when we discussed the book Grimm Legacy by Polly Shulman.  Fun was had by all!


The book club members participated in Grimm Legacy-related activities. They created their own mad-libs fairy tale. And even though students avoided being shrunk by Ms. Badwin’s magic wand, they turned themselves into figurines. And as always, there were some tasty snacks!


We want to make next year’s Cover2Cover book club even better, so students gave their input on what they liked about book club and what they would like to see at future meetings. In addition, Mrs. Barbarino introduced an exciting new summer reading program!  Check out the Mid Macs Read Summer Challenge wiki for more information.

Mrs. Barbarino would like to thank Mrs. Gaetano, Mrs. Ramsey, Mrs. Wolf and Mr. Nairn for being part of the Cover2Cover team. Thanks for always going above and beyond! And thanks to all our student members. With everything that competes for your time and attention, you continue to make reading a priority. You rock!!!

Mrs. B is reading…Dead End in Norvelt

Dead End in Norvelt by Jack Gantos

“School was finally out and I was standing on a picnic table in our backyard getting ready for a great summer when my mother walked up to me and ruined it.” -- Jack Gantos

It is the summer of 1962 and Jack’s mom informs him that he has been enlisted to help out their old neighbor, Miss Volker, to write obituaries for the local paper. She will dictate the stories about the residents who have passed on and Jack will prepare them for print.

But that was the least of his problems. “Oh sweet cheeze-us!” Jack hadn’t known that the rifle was loaded when he aimed and fired at the enemy on the drive-in movie screen, which led to his being grounded for the summer.

And then there was the small problem of his “sensitive” nose from which blood would come spewing out of whenever Jack got a little excited

Oh, and did I mention that someone might be killing off all the original little old ladies of Norvelt?

You’ll get to know the locals as you join Jack on his adventures, some of which include:
-trying to silently pass gas to save the life of a deer
-checking on the elderly to see if it is too soon to write an obituary…while dressed as the Grimm Reaper
-sneaking out of the house to go on Girl Scout fire patrol with his best friend, Bunny

This pleasant story is part adventure, part historical fiction, part murder mystery and full of quirky characters.