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Summary: In the summer of 1962, 12-year-old Jack Gantos is "grounded for life" by his parents. Jack accidentally fired a live bullet from his dad's Japanese sniper's rifle, and got in the middle of a dispute between his parents and disobeyed his mother's orders not to cut down her corn crop. To get out of the house, he agrees to help out his elderly neighbor, Miss Volker, with a special project. Miss Volker keeps health records on the original 250 families. As the original residents continue to move out or die off, Miss Volker composes their final health reports - but in this case it's their obituaries. Because her crippling arthritis has rendered her unable to write or type, Jack has been "volunteered" to help out by writing out and typing the obituaries and delivering them to the editor of the Norvelt News. For Miss Volker and many of the residents, the obituaries are more than records of deaths; they are historical narratives of the deceased lives and how they impacted the town of Norvelt Winner of the Newbery Medal for 2012