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Summary: Read This Book It's Great
Review: "A Year Down Yonder" is about a girl named Mary Alice. She has to move in with here Grandma, but she doesn't want to. Mary Alice does not like her grandma. At the end Mary Alice learns to love her Grandma.
This book won the Newbery honor award. The main characters are Mary Alice and Grandma.
Read this book. You will probably like it!
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Summary: Living on a Shoestring? Not a Problem!
Review: Hooray--Joey's younger sister is back in a town "a long way from Chicago," staying with controversial Grandma Dowdel. This time to spend a whole year--but how will this dignified girl survive Grandma on her own? Shipped off due to Depression poverty of 1937 Mary Alice cringes at the thought of life in a hick town, where local snobs consider Her a rich city girl. Armed only with her cat and her Philco radio, she steps off the train into
a wacky world of rough and ready justice, where she needs to assess her own true grit. Challenges include the famous privy, odd creatures upstairs, horse thieves, horseplay and other forms of necessary neighorbly shenanigans. But not to worry--feisty Grandma won't permit anyone to outsmart her, bully her granddaughter or lord it over the family's heritage. In fact, no one's pedigree is safe from her sharp eyes or tongue. Not without reason are the locals somewhat in awe of her reputation for being quick on the trigger and for evening an outstanding score. Amazingly Grandma can play matchmaker, but woe to hoodlums who try any Halloween tricks on her property! Yet Mary Alice learns lessons in family loyalty and love from this unaffectionate matron. After a year in such a wild envirnoment, how will this modest 16-year-old emerge? Time spent with Grandma will surely mold her character, but will she prove a chip off the old block or rush back to her parents in relief when the economy improves? This sequel is as hilarious as the original-for kids of all ages!
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Summary: No More Dead Dogs is Great
Review: If you have not read this book; you should. It is the best book I have ever read. Wallace Wallace (that's his name) gets detention. His detention place is where the play Old Shep; My Pal is. Someone is vandilizing the play. Everbody thinks it's Wallace.I will not tell you the ending. You have to read it to find out what happens!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Summary: Awesome story!
Review: Mary Alice was fifteen when she was sent from Chicago to live with Grandma in the country for a year. Grandma was well known for shaking up the whole populace. Mary Alice found her life to be unpredictable and far from boring as she watched Grandma in action! ***** A hilarious romp in the country! My son was laughing loudly in his room as he read this book from the library. I just HAD to find out what was so funny. I swiped the book from under his nose and began to read. I probably would have gotten away with reading it and then replacing it without him ever knowing, except that I could not keep myself from laughing out loud any better than he had. So I was caught red-handed. It is no wonder this book won the John Newbery Award in 1999! It was so great that I simply HAD to purchase my own copy. Bravo! *****
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Summary: Unusially written
Review: In the novel A Year Down Yonder, by Richard Peck, it shows wonderful character description and unique plots and ideas. The unusual main plot only adds to the already rich story. All wonderful books have small errors and this book is no exception.
Every book depends on its characters and Grandma is the best. Grandma's hilarious attitude is entirely from her trigger-happy life, wild behavior, and nutty actions. She would only see the sheriff, pick up her 12-gauge, and start firing. Her actions only add to her wild attitude. Take a minute to consider a woman, she has a huge house with lots of land around it. She knows how to use a gun and has one in the house. She is the toughest woman in the town, even men are timid around her. With the house comes a huge snake, in the attic to keep away the birds.
Main characters are essential to the plot and they never usually have the same behavior, attitude, and sprit. Mary Lou is no exception, with her timid and shy entrance. Having a wild experience with her grandma in A Long Way From Chicago. This was with her brother but now all alone she has to face her wild grandma. But as time goes on she becomes more and more head strong till eventually she becomes what she wants. Throughout the book she suspects her grandmother has secrets. Eventually, overtime she discovers them. "You take the kitten. I'll keep the cat." A secret bond between a wild grandmother and a house cat.
The town is like many others in different books. Someone dies, everyone knows in an hour. So when grandma takes on a border for $2.50 a day, everyone knows, and everyone is astounded. "I didn't think the Palmer House Hotel in Chicago charged two dollars and fifty cents for a room."
Imagine a naked lady about 32 racing for home with a dead snake draped on her. This image is seen during this book. Think about the embracement only to bring humor to the main plot.
Have you ever tried to go from flushing toilets to out houses, from cars and paved streets to dirt streets and horse pulled carts? If you want to know the experience talk to Mary Lou. Her "Last touch of the world" it only helps describe the town. We only hear about it in the beginning.
On page 45 there is a spelling error. Who cares? It has no effect on the plot. In the beginning of the book we find out that Mildred is someone to avoid. Mary Lou gets in trouble right away. Her grandmother says "I can't fight your battles for you, but I can give you a level start." Full of intricate characters, wonderful ideas, and a hilarious grandmother A Year Down Yonder is truly a good book. With a interesting town, back in time, and a small radio Mary Lou figures it all out.
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Summary: "A Year Down Yonder" By Richard Peck
Review: "A Year Down yonder" Is a funny novel. Mary Alice is a high school student that comes from chicago to her grand mother's house in the south. There she gets picked on by the school bully. When Mary and her grandmother go out one day toget pecan for their pies grandma dowdel takes a trackto and runs into a tree and some pecans fell out. The moral of the story is to never give up reams thay might just come true. The reason fo living for her grandmother is because her parents split up and they decided to send her to her no orinary grandma dowdel. so now it is your turn to read "A year down yonder" to see what you think.
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Summary: Walking Down Memory Lane
Review: I came to this book from the adult new novel "The Life Before Her Eyes" by Laura Kasischke which deals with a situation like Columbine High School. "A Year Down Yonder" also deals with high school, but the contrast between the modern adult present with its pretensions and dangers and the youthful past with its quaintness and dangers was a deep contrast. Peck tells a good story. The greatest strength of the novel is the richness with which the characters are drawn. Mary Alice and her Grandmother are at the center of a universe of well-drawn minor characters from the snobs at the DAR to the one blue/one green eyed Burdicks and the hilarious Christmas pagent down to even Bootsy the cat who goes through changes from a city cat to country cat mama. The incidents in the book seem so real from the adventures with the outhouse to the tornado and the comical post office lady's posing for the artist. Set against a backdrop of war, this book has a sense of being shelter from a larger tempest raging in the world; and has added significance for kids today living in a world with war and uncertainty. With only 130 pages, this book breezes by quickly, but lingers with you long after. Don't miss out a truly great tale! Enjoy!
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Summary: Watch Out South Here I Come!
Review: Pumpkins, pecans, and shotguns are all what Grandma's about in "A Year Down Yonder". Mary Alice is a high school student that comes from Chicago to her Grandmother's house in the south. There she gets picked on by the school bully. The situations that MAry Alice encounters are both exciting and humorus. When Mary and her grandmother go out late one night to get pecans for their pies. Grandma takes an old tractor and runs it into the Pecan Tree so they all fall out. Richard Peck did an amazing job of writing " A Year Down Yonder". This is definitaly for both boys and girls. Everyone should read this novel.
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Summary: This was in the great deperstaion
Review: A year down yonder is a great book to tell what it was like during the great depsertion. In this wonderful squeal to a Long Way From Chagio Mary Alicia has to live with her crazy grandmother. It is the time of the great depeartion and life is really rough. This story has a lot of instresting things and it has a wonderful moral to it. I do not want to give away the ending but I think that this story ends wonderfully for Mary Alicia. The moral to this wonderful story is to never give up on dreams they just might come true. This story will surely have you wanting to read on and on again. This was a wonderful story.
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Summary: A Year Down Yonder
Review: Do you have grandparents that lived during the great depression? Do you ever wonder what life was like? Well if you do you will love this book, A Year Down Yonder, written by Richard Peck. A Year Down Yonder is about a fifthteen- year old girl named Mary Alice Dowdel, who goes to live with her grandmother until her parents get their lives back together. If the book sounds boring, then you need to get to know Mary Alice's grandmother. Grandma Dowdel is a crazy, old lady who loves to torture the townspeople by playing mean tricks on them. The book, A Year Down Yonder, was written for the young adult age group. Although this is true, the book would be appealing to readers of all ages. This book would be a great "read aloud"
book for teachers in their classrooms. A Year Down Yonder also gives teens a historical perspective from this picture of
small-town America during the depression years. The author of A Year Down Yonder, Richard Peck, wrote this book with a great deal of humor. Throughout the book, Mary Alice almost seems like a sidekick to her grandmother who is " the terror of the town." Although Mary Alice is not always sure of herself, Grandma Dowdel always knows what she is doing. For example: On Mary Alice's first day of school, she gets hit up for a dollar by Mildred Burdick. When Mildred follows Mary Alice home from school, Grandma Dowdel thinks of it as a good opportunity to play a trick(although Mary Alice doesn't know it at the time.) After grandma gives Mildred and Mary Alice a snack, she goes out back. While the two girls eat, Grandma Dowdel puts Mildred's boots around the neck of the horse she was riding(which was stolen) and sends it back to it's real home. This means Mildred has to walk five miles, barefooted. The book, A Year Down Yonder, is told from the point of view of a fifthteen-year old girl named Mary Alice Dowdel. The book is presented in chronological order, as mary alice spends a year in Illinois with her grandmother. Occasionally, the author uses fictional newspaper articles in order to better tell the story. One such article is:
"Winter resumes it's grip as the younger set at the high school lloks forward to the exchange of Valentine card's, and the DAR is abuzz about it's annual Washington's Birthday tea.
The high school will get it's big red hearts
But where will the DAR get it's cherry tart's!"
-"Newsy Notes From Our Communities"
The Piatt County Call If thats not enough for you, then you'll have to check out the book for yourself. If you enjoyed A Long Way From Chicago, then you will love the sequel A Year Down Yonder by Richard Peck. Check it out at your local library today!
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