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Summary: I love Grandma Dowdel
Review: I have listened to many books on tape (many trips with children to the midwest from the East Coast) and I have never admired an audiobook production as much as this one. Grandma Dowdel is an exciting eccentric person. Her grandchildren are imaginative observant and willing to be partners in crime to her escapades. I am reminded of townspeople in my own childhood in Ohio who were quirky and colorful and needed someone like Richard Peck to record their lifestyles. Ron McLarty's voice as Grandma Dowdel made me laugh repeatedly.
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Summary: A long way from Chicago
Review: Every summer Joey and his sister Mary leave Chicago to visit their grandmother in a small town in Illinois. Their grandmother, Grandma Dowdell, frequently lies and cheats for her own good. She is not an example of someone a parent would leave their children with for a summer, let alone one day. Joey and Mary's first impression of Grandma Dowdell was unstable at first, but they grew to enjoy her idioms. Grandma Dowdell was the original Grumpy Old Lady. Jack and Walter, from the movie Grumpy Old Men, must have learned all their tricks from her.
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Summary: A long way from Chicago
Review: This book was an awsome book . I loved how it showed how the realationships helped Grandma Dowdell , Joey and his sister. The relationships were not realy strong but they grew and grew. The book shares the acounts of joey's memories at Grandma dowdell' house. They went through alot together. Most of it was through the great depreasion. Grandma Dowdell got through 99%of it by cheating , lies and well being herself.....stubburn. The book was well written and clever. There was always a different twist to every thing. you nevere knew what was going to happen.
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Summary: An Example Of An Excellent Book
Review: The book I read was Richard Peck's "A Long Way From Chicago." It is about this girl named Mary Alice and her brother Joey visiting their grandmother over nine summers they'll never forget! Each chapter is about one summer. But their grandmother is far from typical. They saw their first corpse, helped her trespass, caught the sheriff drunk in his underwear, and helped feed the hungry! I recommend this book for people who like funny stories and adventures.
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Summary: A Long Way From Chicago
Review: I like the book "A Long way from Chicago" because, the way Joeys Grandma gave up her plane ride for him, even when she seemed to mean. Another thing I like about this book is the way their Grandma feed the drifter's with fish that she caught with rotten cheese in a trap. Another thing I liked was when they did illegal stuff with their Grandma. One thing that I thought was funny was when they were going to see Aunt Puss and they saw the sheriff and his deptey singing in there underwear. I think you'd enjoy reading this book if you would like to know the way they lived during the 1920's through the 1940's.
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Summary: Everyone should have a Grandma Dowdel
Review: A series of stories detailing the yearly visits of a young boy to his grandmother's farm in rural Illinois, Joey comes to look forward to leaving Chicago and visiting Grandma Dowdel. Grandma is not your 'cookies and milk' type of grandmother, she is an acquaintance of the town moonshiner and the witch in the woods. Not one to be beholden to anyone, Grandma is the defender of the little guy, from her supposed worst enemy, to the town drunk. No one gets the best of her, including the bank, a real threat to small farmers in the 1930's. Joey is her sidekick, half afraid of what will happen, but keeping his eyes wide open and all bets on Grandma to come out on top. Infused with real humor and wit, and more then a smidge of a tall tale, A Long Way From Chicago is alot like sitting around the family dinner table and recounting stories of days remembered, stories that seem to get better with each telling. This is a real treasure of a book and made me a Richard Peck fan.
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Summary: A Long way from Chicago
Review: Wow! I am a school teacher and still greatly enjoyed this book. While reading I couldn't help missing my own grandparent and their rural homes.
I had a hard time putting this book down.
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Summary: The Grandmother Every Kid Would Want to Visit
Review: Have you ever experienced what it would be like to come from a big city, like Chicago, and then go visit a slow, little town? Well, Chris Crutch portrays the small town life during the Depression wonderfully.
Two young children from the busy city of Chicago have a grandma, their Grandma Dowdell, who lives in a small Illinois town. In the year 1929, the two children, Joey, who was nine years old, and Mary Alice, who was seven years old, were sent by their parents to stay with Grandma Dowdell for the summer. Joey and Mary Alice were so used to their fast-paced life, that when they got to the small, calm town, they thought that there would be nothing to do and no excitement, but Grandma Dowdell proved them wrong.
Grandma Dowdell gets the kids into many adventures. Many times, she manipulates people just to get her way, but her intentions are always good. The two kids get to experience the kind of life that many kids from Chicago do not get to see, and I think that it was good for them. Now, as an old man, as Joey looks back, he is grateful that his parents sent him and his sister to stay with Grandma Dowdell for all of those summers. At the end of the book, the children had not seen their grandmother in many years. When World War II began, Joey joined the army. He sent Grandma Dowdell a telegram telling her that the train that he was taking to the army was going to pass through her town. Grandma Dowdell lit up her house, stood outside, and waved to Joey as his train went by. The character of Grandma Dowdell is unique because she does so many kind acts and asks nothing in return. She is the kind of Grandma that any child would want to visit.
I would recommend this book to anyone who wants a good laugh. It is really funny, and it has a good story line. There are surprising incidents, and the characters continue to mature throughout the novel. Every child who reads this book will be able to see al little bit of themselves through one of the characters. A student with a good sense of humor would really enjoy A Long Way from Chicago by Richard Peck.
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Summary: A Long Way From Chicago
Review: I am an at risk high school teacher who reads aloud to my classes. This is great for that purpose. Each chapter is a story within it's self, making the reading time just about right for student's attention span. Great book.
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Summary: A Long Way From Chicago (a funny yet interesting read)
Review: I enjoyed this book very much. The characters, especially Grandma Dowdel was a very amusing person. She was also very lifelike. She is against public interactions. Her grandkids names are MaryAlice and Joey Joe Dowdel. It is during the great depression. I recommend this book because it shows a very depresing time with dry humor.
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