Is this novel worth the time it takes to teach it in your class? The short answer is abso-freaking-lutely. Are there some challenges? Sure, as there are with most novels students are exposed to. Are you looking to get a feel for the challenges that lay ahead? Well, read on and you'll see that despite its relatively minor challenges, Dead End in Norvelt is definitely a valuable resource to use in your classroom.

So what are you facing? Well, first the book is about a male main character that talks a lot about war and death. Will some of your students be turned off by all the violence and death? Maybe—but the good news is that by focusing on the influence of history in the novel, as well as the strong female characters (think: Miss Volker and Eleanor Roosevelt), this is a relatively easy challenge to overcome.