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Summary: A funny historical fiction book!
Review: If you are looking for a funny book to read, then you need to get A Year Down Yonder by Richard Peck. This story takes place right after the depression in 1937. Mary Alice's father has lost his job in Chicago and her parents have to get a new apartment. Mary Alice, 15, is sent to live with her Grandma Dowdel because money is tight. She used to come one week each summer with her brother Joey. But he is off planting trees for the government. If only he was with her now.
When Mary Alice gets to her grandmother's hick town in Southern Illinois she knows this will be a year to remember. She has to learn to make new friends in the local high school. She has a rough start because all the girls think that she is the "rich girl from Chicago". Mary Alice states, "If I am so rich, why am I here?".
Throughout the book Mary Alice goes through different adventures with her crazy grandmother. They steal pecans and pumpkins to make pies for the school Halloween party, they booby trap the backyard so that the local boys can not knock down the outhouse, or privy, and they rent the extra room to a starving artist from New York City. Mary Alice even goes through her first tornado. But aside from the adventures, she sees that her grandmother cares about the people in her town. Grandma Dowdel does what she can to make sure that no one goes without.
Each chapter is a different story of what the two go through during the course of the year, from September to August. Grandma and Mary Alice grow very close and ... [the girl]ended up falling in love with the small town and her hilarious Grandmother.
This book was a very quick and enjoyable read. It picked up right where A Long Way From Chicago left off. I would recommend this book to anyone needing a historical fiction book or just a good laugh!
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Summary: Grandma Dowdel is a character you meet once in a lifetime.
Review: One of the main characters, Grandma Dowdel, is one of the most complex characters in juvenille literature. Her exterior is huge, harsh, and full of mischief. By contrast, however, Peck gives us glimpses of her warm heart. The relationship between Grandma Dowdel and Mary Alice is bittersweet and mostly unforgetable. This is a great book for kids and parents alike.
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Summary: Another Trip Downstate
Review: This sequel to A Long Way from Chicago won the Newbery Award. Not all award-winning books are the best books around but the Newbery has shown itself to be a consistent sign of quality. Of course, even within this group, the excellence varies.Though not my favorite among the Newberys, there is a lot here to like. As a boy who grew up in downstate Illinois myself, there is a lot in this story that I find very familiar. Not the least being the wonderfully drawn character of the grandmother who powers through the losses of the Depression with an iron will. I have to admit that I enjoyed A Long Way from Chicago more than this one. Still, that may be because the first novel has a male protagonist with whom I identify a little more. Ultimately, however, this is a worthy read, especially for anyone who wants a taste of what it was like to live in the Midwest in the 1930's.
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Summary: ...
Review: This book took place during the 1930's when the depression was still wrapping up. Young Mary Alice was sent from her home in Chicago to live with her Grandmother out in the country. Throughout the year she spent with her Grandmother, Mary Alice learned much about her once feared Grandmother. She learned how much her Grandmother had done for others, and most of all, how much she loved her. "A Year Down Yonder" was a very well written book. From the dialogue to the growth the reader observes in Mary Alice, this book was believable both in it's characters and plot. With the underlaying message of love and compassion, I'd reccomend this book to both the young and old reader.
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Summary: A Funny Book
Review: This book was funny, and interesting, and confusing (a good confusing) all at once. There were so many things Mary Alice had to deal with and so many new people to meet. I don't know if i could do it! :)
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Summary: Great Children Lit. A year Down Yonder
Review: A Year Down Yonder
By Richard Peck (2001 Newberry Award Winner.) During the 1937 Roosevelt recession 15 year old Mary Alice is sent to the country to live with her odd grandma Mrs. Dowdel. Her family hadn't much money her older brother Joey was working out west. Having lived in Chicago it took time to adjust to the hick town and the very small high school where they didn't even have sophomores. After stepping of the train with about everything she owned including her cat Bootsie and her radio she expected to go to the house instead grandma made her walk to school. Immediately she was an outcast viewed as the rich girl from Chicago that wouldn't work. It helped that they knew her grandma as a strange trigger-happy woman who kept to herself. (She also had a way of shaking up the local populace with drama and surprises.) As the year when on she began to love the country as well as understand her grandmother better. Things were viewed different in the country stealing was considered "barrowing" and Mrs. Dowdel kept to these ways. Her grandmother was healthy for a woman her age and baked delicious pies and pastries, which Mary Alice enjoyed. She learned the meaning of hard work, how to keep a secret often helping her grandma in the middle of the night. By the end of the year young Mary Alice had learned some of life's harder lessons. Though Mrs. Dowdel looked big and rough she had a kind loving heart which her grandaughter discovered as she often looked in on a poor friend Mrs. Abernathy. Mary Alice also realized that nothing would be too strange to happen to this town and some interesting characters wondered in during her yearlong visit an artist painting portraits, a Burdick baby, and Royce McNab a handsome senior and new kid as well. Mary Alice knew better to predict anything when it came to grandma Dowdel she even managed to play matchmaker in getting a couple married. During the book Mary Alice turns 16 and grows up she doesn't want to leave her aging grandmother though she knows that Mrs. Dowdel is perfectly capable of living by herself but most of all she doesn't want to admit she had fallen in love with the country. It was hard for her to leave but grandma told her "You take the kitten. (Bootsie also adjusted and had kittens.) I'll keep the cat. I'll keep the cat. You go on home to your folks. It'll be alright. I don't lock my doors." Is there to be another sequeal? I have friends who want one and grandma Dowdel left the door open! It is a quick read for kids wanting a light good humored book this hits the spot. It can easily be read in an hour great for the lazy days of summer. Enjoy and have fun.
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Summary: Visit Grandma Dowdel Again
Review: Not in a long time has a book been as endearing as this book has been to me. Go with, 15 year old, Mary Alice as she travels from Chicago to her Grandma Dowdel's in the Illinois country town . Mary Alice is less than excited to have to go live with her cantankerous grandmother during the Great Depression. Soon Mary Alice discovers what lies beneath her grandmother's tough exterior as she has adventure after adventure in the "last house in town." This book will tickle every emotion that you have forgotten from your younger reading days. I have not laughed out loud while reading in a long time. This book is difinitely one to share with kids and adults.
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Summary: Not Your Average Grandma!
Review: In this hilarious and captivating novel,you find yourself traipsing to a neighbor's pecan tree in the middle of the night. This doesn't sound too weird?,here's the catch:your with your grandma! Mary Alice must stay with her grandma when times are hard during the depression. Mary Alice doesn't have your average grandma. Also,Mary Alice doesn't like her grandma. In the end...well,I can't tell you that! Go on! Get the book! You won't be disapointed!
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Summary: Very Good Summer/Vacation Read
Review: A Year Down Yonder is a very cute, nice, good story that is perfect to read during the summer or when you're on vacation. The story takes you through a year with a young girl during the war when she's sent to live with her grandmother. She learns alot about her grandmother and as a reader you'll learn to love both of them. I highly reccommend this book if you're looking for a relaxing, good-mood book. Enjoy!
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Summary: "A year down Yonder Review"
Review: ''A Year Down Yonder" is a good book but, it has too much talking and not enough action. There are a lot of good parts in the book.. I like when grandma tries to get even with people in a non-grandma like way. The main characters in this book are Mary Alice, Grandma, and Bootsie the cat. I think that ''A year Down yonder" is a good book but they should make more action in the book.
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