We had a longer conversation with Jack Gantos at the Nantucket Book Festival - too much to include in Episode 36, our discussion of DEAD END IN NORVELT. Jack talks about his first 36 rejections, his switch from teaching to writing full time, and about his beloved hometown of Norvelt, Pennsylvania. It's a conversation we had at Mitchell's Book Corner on Nantucket Island.

Jack received the 2012 Newbery Award and the Scott O'Dell Award for Best Historic Fiction for "Dead End in Norvelt." His other works include Hole in My Life, a memoir that won the Michael L. Printz and Robert F. Sibert honors; Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key, a National Book Award Finalist, and Joey Pigza Loses Control, a Newbery Honor book.

Writer Jack Gantos has his own unusual take on a childhood in the town named after Eleanor Roosevelt - the real-life place called Norvelt, Pennsylvania. Readers from Belvedere Elementary School in Falls Church, Virginia discuss DEAD END IN NORVELT with host Kitty Felde. Wenzel Jones is celebrity reader.

The Fault in Our Stars - John Green

Candymakers - Wendy Mass

Wereworld - Curtis Jobling

Chronicles of Narnia - C.S. Lewis

Warriors series - Erin Hunter

Wings of Fire - Tui T. Sutherland

Hatchet - Gary Paulsen

Moby Dick - Herman Melville

"Hard to find another classic on my shelf that I reread every five years - the language, themes, journey, spleen and spine of it are very satisfying."

Onions in the Stew - Betty MacDonald

What makes a great book? Readers from Loyola Village Elementary School in Los Angeles have some answers.