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Oct 24, 2008

The other John rated it:

I think this is a first. Never before have I read a sequel before reading the original novel. (At least as far as I can recall.) (The Discworld books don't count. They aren't organized in a proper order, are they? You can't call a book a sequel unless it's called a sequel on the cover.) (Well, I suppose I can make an exception if it has a number on the spine.) I usually hold out for the original, but in this case my daughter's curriculum assigned her to read this volume and, unlike my daughter, More...

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Dec 24, 2011

Anne rated it:

The cover shown above has none of the character of the Scholastic Press edition.... I stayed in bed to read this book this morning. You'd do well to do the same, or to sit down in front of a fire with a cup of tea and a couple of cookies...

A Year Down Yonder is a sequel to A Long Way from Chicago. Same cast of characters, different layout.
Mary Alice, Joey's younger sister, is the narrator. She is abut 15. The recession following the Depression and preceding the war means that MA' More...

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Nov 28, 2011

Casey rated it:

1. Classification: Historical Fiction

2. Summary: Mary Alice is sent to a small town to live with her grandmother after a recession has occured in Chicago. Mary Alice's grandmother is very outspoken which makes for an interesting story. The characters in this novel are unforgettable.

3. Critique:

a.) The strongest aspect of this novel are the characters. Mary Alice is quiet and observant and her grandmother is outspoken and wild. Mary Alice starts to see a different si More...

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Nov 08, 2011

Halley rated it:

In 1937, during a new recession, Mary Alice Dowdel is sent to live with her Grandma in the country while her parents struggle to find work in Chicago. Mary Alice has always enjoyed visiting her formidable Grandma in the summer, but she worries about spending an entire year with her in the southern country area of Illinois. Why, at her Grandma’s house one has to go outside and use the privy. Throughout the novel, the reader is able to see how Mary Alice comes to understand and love her Grandma an More...

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Oct 17, 2011

Ashton rated it:

Genre: Contemporary Realism Junior Book
Summary: Mary Alice is teenager being sent to live in the country with her grandmother by her parents because of the recession taking place in Chicago. The book describes the crazy, interesting, fun times Mary Alice has living in a small town with her outspoken grandmother.
Critique: a) The book’s characters are what make this book amazing. They are complex and dynamic, and dominate the story.
The main character, Mary Alice is shown from th More...

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Aug 01, 2011

Andrea added it

I love, love, love this book!

It's the middle of the recession that followed the Great Depression. Mary Alice's father lost his job and they had to give up their apartment in Chicago. Her parents took a "light housekeeping room" in town, but there was no room for her. Mary Alice was sent to live with her grandmother in rural southern Illinois.

Mary Alice's miseries, trying to adjust to country life and make friends with people who considered her an alien resonated with me, being an expa More...

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Feb 02, 2011

Rachel rated it:

Mary Alice's family is being hit by hard times and her parents have to move to a smaller apartment in Chicago, that is not big enough for her too. She has to move to live with her Grandmother Dowdel. Evey summer she and her brother would go to stay with her, but this time it was for a whole year and it was by herself. She is fifteen and is really not looking forward to leaving the city to spend time in 'Hickville' with her Grandma. Her Grandmother is kind of the talk of the town. She is straight More...

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Oct 27, 2010

Jill rated it:

This is a sequel but you'd never know it. I expected to be playing catch-up with the characters and story line--I'm a little gun shy after The High King. This stands alone from the first page though. I really relate to the characters in this book. They feel real to me, especially Grandma Dowdel. I have family members who talk just like her!

"How about some supper? My stomach's flapping against my backbone," she said. "If I don't eat, I get cranky."

" More...

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Jun 18, 2010

Shally rated it:

Summary: Mary Alice a 15-year-old Chicago city girl is sent to live in the country with her Grandma Dowdel as her parents try and make their living situation better during the Great Depression in 1937. Instead of making Mary Alice live in the streets they sent her away. At first, Mary Alice doesn’t understand her unique grandmother. She was not affectionate; she seemed to have no mercy and was feared by half of the town. After time Mary Alice recognizes the good in her grandmother as she helps h More...

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May 06, 2010

Becca rated it:

Richard Peck really outdid himself with the book "A Year Down Yonder!" Did I like it? I Loved it, with a capitol "L." The fictional story is a sequel to Peck's Newbery award winning novel "A Long Way From Chicago" and picks up with the narrator, Mary Alice, going to live with her Grandma Dowdel's old fashioned hick town. The story begins with Alice seeing her grandma as an unfeeling old lady and through the tale we see her character develop in maturity and wisdo More...

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Mar 08, 2010

Kristine rated it:

Plot Summary - Story is set in 1937 and the effects of the Depression are still being felt. A girl, Mary Alice, is sent to live with her Grandmother for a while. The girl is enrolled at school, she has to bake with her Grandmother, and she sees how crafty, creative, and private her Grandmother is. The girl also has encounters with members of the town and she begins to get used to the countryside (she was from Chicago)

Main Characters - Mary Alice, teenager, moved in with grandmother. More...

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Mar 03, 2010

Lauma rated it:

Audio Format: Unabridged production read by Lois Smith--a stage, film, and TV actress. Total playing time, 3 hours 24 minutes (3 CD's)

This story takes place in downstate Illinois, where Mary Alice was sent to live with her Grandma Dowdel because of the Great Depression in 1937. Told through the eyes of 15-year old Mary Alice, the story mainly centers around the developing relationship with her feisty, cantankerous grandma who seems so tough on the outside but in reality has a hear More...

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May 04, 2009

Jamie rated it:

This book is about a girl named Mary Alice. Mary Alice loves her life with her family in Chicago but "disaster" strikes as she has to live with her grandmother for a year. This "disaster" turns out to be such an amazing experiance that Mary Alice wants to stay there forever. Before all this happens, Mary Alice encounters a couple of really disasterous (this time not with " ") scenes. First, she gets away with not giving the school bully money, and then she ge More...

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Jul 07, 2011

Megan rated it:

Fifteen year-old Mary Alice, from Chicago, is sent to live with her Grandmother for a year because of the hard times her parents face during the Great Depression. Mary Alice is forced to brave the rural Illinois lifestyle, separation from her parents and brother, and her Grandma Dowdel, an eccentric woman with a strong personality and a tough-love attitude. The relationship between Grandma Dowdel and Mary Alice is rocky at first but, eventually the young girl discovers that underneath her gran More...

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Mar 07, 2011

L11_Ryanne rated it:

I did not want this book to end! It's one of those stories that you read it to just enjoy it, not just to see how it ends. This is a story about a young girl from Chicago who is sent to live with her Grandmother. Her grandmother's life style is very far removed from what Mary Alice has ever know because her grandmother is pure country. She is so country that even the townspeople are afraid of Grandma Dowdel. In Mary Alice's year stay with grandma she has many life experiences that will foll More...

3 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jul 09, 2010

Loretta rated it:

A Year Down Yonder, by Richard Peck is an extremely charming story about a 15 year girl who moves to live with her grandma on a farm in central Illinois during the Depression because her parents, like most people were struggling to make ends meet. Until this point, she had lived in Chicago and had much to learn about living on a farm. She had visited her grandma during Summer breaks, but living with her full-time was another story!

Her grandmother is a gruff woman who would rather s More...

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Dec 09, 2011

Leland rated it:

A Year Down Yonder
By: Richard Peck
Published By: Dial Books For Young Readers
Hard Cover Cost: $12.40
Mostly Recommended Ages: 9-13
Copyright Date: 2000
Reviewed By: Leland Keller

A Year Down Yonder is the sequel to A Long Way From Chicago. This novel is an extraordinary book with some interesting characters. Mary Alice is going to Grandma Dowdel's house again but this time with out Joey! How is she ever going to survive this long long year. Mary Alice is More...

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Feb 06, 2011

Charles rated it:

The 2001 Newberry Award Winner is one of the smoothest books I have read. The diction throughout the story is almost perfect.

Written in first person, from the view of a sixteen year old, Mary Alice is sent to live with her grandmother in the country. Arriving by train, with her cat Bootsie and her radio, her adventure begins. Over the course of one year, she observes life with her bigger than life Grandma Dowle. Set in the period of the Great Depression, grandma is always coming up More...

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Jul 18, 2009

Lorie rated it:

Newberry Award winner tells of the year a 15 year old girl during the depression in the outback countryside of Illinois with her eccentric, tough, fearsome grandmother. She must leave her unemployed and nearly destitute family in Chicago. The two-room school in a little town where everyone knows everyone's business is utterly foreign to her, and she hardly knows what to think about her strange grandmother who packs pistols and shotguns, traps foxes for their furs, and makes the best pies in to More...

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Dec 15, 2011

Cassy rated it:

A Year Down Yonder
Published By: Dial Books for Young Children
Copyright date: 2000
Cost: $16.99
Book Review Written By Cassie

Mary Alice used to go down to Grandma Dowdel's every summer with her brother Joey when she was little. Now, not only does she have to brave a year with Grandma, but she's 15 and is spending that year without Joey. With the new year coming, Mary Alice must go to school, where the problems only add on. The whole town knows Grandma Dowdel is trigger More...

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Dec 15, 2011

Maryjane rated it:

With it's catchy feeling of laughter A year down Yonder puts you on the edge of your seat. This extraordinary setting takes place in Chicago when Mary Alice first steps of the train she knows that this year will be like no other attending a school down here. Mary Alice knows she will never get board with her grandma Dowdel especially because Grandma Dowdel doesn’t really care what people think about her with the nick name the town has came up for her is, “trigger happy” Going through Mar More...

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Oct 18, 2011

Aneasha rated it:

I think that this is a great book, I would definitly recomend this book to anyone. What I liked about this book is how she has a cat and how she got to go and live with her grandma. Something that I thought was pretty cool was how Mary Alice's cat, Bootsy, let her say hi to hr new baby kitten!:) The part when they said that everybody was affraid of Mary's grandma because her she would always scare them with her gun was really funny to me!! Another thing that I thought was pretty sad was how she More...

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Mar 03, 2010

Stephanie rated it:

A Year Down Yonder is written by Richard Peck and is intended for 5th-7th grade students. The story centers on the family of a young girl who is sent to live with her grandmother in rural Illinois when her father looses his job in Chicago during the Great Depression era. Although the ending is a bit predictable, I recommend this book for the great use of historical references on almost every page.

Peck does a great job captivating the reader through the plot and at the same time in More...

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Nov 01, 2009

(NS) Brea M rated it:

A Year Down Yonder (Newbery Medal Winner) is Richard Peck’s sequel to A Long Way from Chicago (Newbery Honor Winner). In the original, Mary Alice and her brother Joe leave Chicago to visit their Grandma Dowdel in the farmlands of Illinois. A Year Down Yonder picks up two years later, when Mary Alice is forced to move to her grandmother’s home because the 1937 recession leaves her parents unable to take care of her. This time, Mary Alice is starting a new life in a small town without the compa More...

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Jul 10, 2011

Aimee rated it:

This delightful novel tells a coming-of-age tale of a young girl’s year living in the country. Set during the depression, in the year 1937, Mary Alice is sent to live with her Grandmother. This is a difficult transition, as Mary Alice lives in Chicago, and her Grandmother lives in a small town, in rural Illinois. During their year together, Mary Alice learns a lot about life and love. Her Grandmother’s no-nonsense attitude, teaches her the importance of being true to yourself and your family. De More...

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Sep 25, 2010

Cynthia rated it:

Personal Comments:
Witty and fun to read. I highly recommend this book.

Synopsis:
The year is 1937 and fifteen year old Mary Alice has left her city of Chicago to live with Grandma Dowdel as her parents are forced to downsize to a “light housekeeping apartment with kitchen privileges” while her father tries to find a job. Money and jobs are scarce as the country is struggling to recover from the recession that followed the Great Depression. Grandma Dowdel lives in a rural More...

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Jul 05, 2010

Jen rated it:

In 1937, 15 year old Mary Alice Dowdel, leaves Chicago to spend the year with her Grandma in rural Illinois as her family struggles to recover from the great depression. Over the course of the year, Mary Alice takes part in her Grandma's crazy schemes that often leave the town terrified such as her Halloween prank on the town pranksters or working the cash register at the annual turkey shoot on Armistice Day. Although Grandma has a tough exterior, deep down she is an old softie as she plays ma More...

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Jan 20, 2012

Elaine rated it:

We listened to the audio version of this book and we (myself and my 8 and 10 year old daughters) enjoyed it. I had been warned of a mention of teenage pregnancy (which went completely over my girls' heads) however towards the end of the book, a woman runs downstairs, through the house, and out the door stark naked with only a snake around her neck and a rose in her mouth. My girls wondered what a naked woman was doing upstairs (a male boarder lived up there), but I suggested that maybe she was c More...

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Jan 01, 2009

Megan rated it:

My Reading teacher introduced my class to this amazing book back in the beginning of the school year. My cousin had read it before and I'd thought about reagin it, but never got around to doing it. But this was just SUCH a great book that I recomend it to pretty much EVERYONE in the entire world. There's also a really funny part towards the ending of the middle to all you people who like to laugh-out-loud.

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Jul 05, 2010

Erin rated it:

I enjoyed this story, largely because I tend to respond to characters that change during the course of the book and expand their own understanding. Mary Alice was a great character, because she didn't just grow and change, she learned to understand her grandmother and even became a little bit like her. Historical Fiction also appeals to me, and Richard Peck's sense of humor is right on.
Because the main character is already 15 at the beginning of this book, I can see the story attracting More...

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