Rating: 
Summary: Great Family Entertainment
Review: Audio books are required for our vacation trips by car and it is hard to find something appealing to both children and adults. Richard Peck is right on target with this book. Grandma Dowdel is at times amusing, shocking, always clever and very endearing. The telling of the two stories by Joey and Mary Alice is perfect from the viewpoint of a youngster. My 10-year old daughter has listened to both A Long Way from Chicago and A Year Down Yonder many times and we all laugh out loud at the antics of Grandma Dowdel and the reactions from her grandkids. These two books by Richard Peck will be classics in our household.
Rating:
Summary: Summers in a small town which is far from sleepy!
Review: "A Long Way From Chicago" is one book you have to get your hands on! A story of two city kids, Joey and Mary Alice, and their adventures with their wild( to say the least) Grandma in a small Illinois town. Grandma Dowdel is a interesting character to come across in a book. She tells her grandson to dress up as a Phantom Breakman to stop a train. She also throws cherry bombs at two boys invading and destructing her property. Shooting off her shotgun will get your attention, and so will stealing a boat to go fishing. She will do anything to get what she wants.Oh, and she does get what she wants! The summers with Grandma sure do make an exciting story for Mary Alice and Joey!
Rating:
Summary: Summers in a small town which is far from sleepy!
Review: "A Long Way From Chicago" is one book you have to get your hands on! A story of two city kids, Joey and Mary Alice, and their adventures with their wild( to say the least) Grandma in a small Illinois town. Grandma Dowdel is a interesting character to come across in a book. She tells her grandson to dress up as a Phantom Breakman to stop a train. She also throws cherry bombs at two boys invading and destructing her property. Shooting off her shotgun will get your attention, and so will stealing a boat to go fishing. She will do anything to get what she wants.Oh, and she does get what she wants! The summers with Grandma sure do make an exciting story for Mary Alice and Joey!
Rating:
Summary: a wonderful ride the whole time!
Review: My 11 year old grand daughter and I discovered the joys of audio books listening to all of the Harry Potter series (along with reading them) while driving on vacation last year.
Then I came across Richard Peck's wonderful Grandma Dowdel and introduced my grand daughter to a different time and place and a wonderful character whom we both grew to love...A Long Way From Chicago and its' sequel, A Year Down Yonder are not to be missed. The author's storytelling is first rate. The kinship and understanding that develop between grandma and her grandkids Joey and Mary Alice lead the listener from laughter to tears and back again. But Grandma Dowdel is no soft fuzzy pushover - neither is the lifestyle she leads. It's tough and practical with little room left for sentimentality. But love comes in many forms and situations that Richard Peck deftly weaves among the townsfolk and their particular brand of small town life. Enjoy!
Rating:
Summary: A fun, easy read!
Review: When I first started reading this book, I thought it was just going to be boring and stale. Then, I found myself actually enjoying it. My lips would curl into a smile every now and then, and I would really think about the hidden meanings in this novel.
It's fun to figure out why Grandma Dowdel did the sneaky things she did. EXAMPLE/ When she faked Abraham Lincoln's initials on an old stovepipe hat and planted it for the bankers wife to find. You'll find out the well planned reason why if you read this entertaining story! Also, Grandma never wants to show anyone she cares about anybody, but she really does. EXAMPLE/ She would always rave about how much Effie Wilcox annoyed her. But, when Effie had to move away, it was obvious Grandma was sad(and she did something about it). I really liked this pleasant book and I would recommend it to pretty much anyone.
Rating:
Summary: Great Book!!!
Review: I read this book to my 9 year old after reading the sequel, A Year Down Yonder. It was as great as that one! It takes place from 1929 to around the mid 1930s. Each chapter covers one year, telling a story about the week that Joey and Mary Alice spend each summer with Grandma Dowdel. The stories are funny, sometimes touching. My daughter thought A Year Down Yonder was more interesting, but I think that's because the focus was on a girl, rather than a boy. We highly recommend this book to anyone, boy or girl, ages 9 and up, especially the middle schoolers, which can be a hard age to reach in terms of reading.
Rating: 
Summary: This is Not your typical trip to Grandma's
Review: This is a wonderful book to read out loud with children 10-12 years old. The Depression era references need to be explained--the Dillingers, hobos marking mail boxes, the reasons why families in the cities sent their children to "grandma's" during the summer. Grandma Dowdel is quite a piece of work. Joey and Mary Alice learn a lot about life observing Grandma's interactions with neighbors in a small town where relationships count. My daughter loved this book and we are now on to the sequel. Well written, great vocabulary, wonderful surprises and episodes with Grandma Dowdel.
Rating:
Summary: THIS IS THE COOLEST BOOK IN THE WHOLE UNIVERSE!
Review: This is the most interesting book ever! It's SO funny! It's about these siblings who visit their Grandma in a town in Illinois during the Great Dpression. It's SO funny! You have to read it! C'mon! PLEASE? Say yes! Say it...c'mon...that's it! You said yes! Okay! Buy a copy of the greatest book in the world today!
Rating:
Summary: Laughed Out Loud
Review: I got this book to help a 13 year old read aloud. She is struggling with her reading and rarely reads voluntarily so there's heavy expectations here. I loved the book with its small town poignancy and the characterization of Grandma. I lived in Chicago for 7 years and did not get "down state" as often as I would have liked. The expressions and antics of Grandma were very evocative of small town Midwest USA. The story takes place South of Urbana Champaign IL, although the exact town where Grandma lives is never mentioned, three or four surrounding towns and other landmarks like Salt Creek pinpoint the locale in the Argenta, Farmer City, Bement, Tuscola area of Illinois. Mention is made "of walking outside the county across Route 36". This is rural middle America at its quirky best.Although this is a childrens' book, children may not appreciate the poignancy of the ending as Joey and Grandma wave goodbye at the end probably for the last time as he goes off to World War II. Now the experiment! Will the 13 year old get away from MTV land long enough to sit down and read aloud?
Rating:
Summary: I've read this book to 75 people!
Review: I'm a middle school literature teacher who knows a good book when I see (or read) one, and this one takes the cake! I read it to three classes and they loved it so much I had to read the sequel to them, too! Grandma is a one-woman riot--she breaks the law (sort of), scares people (kind of), and takes advantage of people (but only if they deserve it). My parents, aunts, mother-in-law, and brothers ALL read and loved the book and nearly wept for joy on learning of the existence of a sequel. A LONG WAY FROM CHICAGO is one of the most entertaining books to come out in ages!
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