A Year Down Yonder by Richard Peck
Call Number FIC PEC
Trying to fit in at a new school is hard enough, but in 1937,
Mary Alice is sent from Chicago to live with her Grandma in rural Illinois. Clutching
only her transistor radio and Bootsie the cat, Mary Alice wonders how she’ll survive.
Mary Alice’s first lesson is how to deal with a bully. But her education doesn’t end there. Grandma Dowdel also teaches Mary Alice about
gossips, vandals and people who think that they are better than others.
Peck’s vivid prose takes you right into the school room with
Mary Alice as she befriends Ina-Rae and first meets Royce McNabb. You can smell the cherry tarts that Grandma
bakes for the DAR’s tea in honor of George Washington’s birthday. Shiver as Peck has Mary Alice describe the
cold in Grandma’s house during the winter and laugh out loud at all the
surprises he has in store for the reader.
Small town living might have a thing or two to teach this city
girl. Will Mary Alice survive all of the
disasters, natural or otherwise, that this small town has to offer? Will she stay to live with Grandma after her
parents get back on their feet? Read A Year Down Yonder and guffaw your way
to the answers to these questions.
Loved this book & the cozy book group meeting that accompanied it! Nothing like good conversation, summer storms & homemade pie!
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