A Year Down Yonder by Richard Peck. Dial. Checked out copy from the San Diego County Library, La Mesa Branch.
The sequel to A Long Way From Chicago. Mary Alice is sent back to her Grandma Dowdel, but this time, it’s for the entire year. It’s 1937 and Mary Alice really has to adjust to country life this time around. She’s not just staying for the summer, and her older brother Joey has been sent off the Civilian Conservation Corps, so she’s on her own this time. Mary Alice soon learns that though her grandmother’s town may appear sleepy at first glance, it’s anything but, and Grandma Dowdel keeps things interesting in her own Midwestern manner. There’s the poignant moment of the reality of war shown to Mary Alice after the festivities of Veterans Day are over, a wailing surprise in the manger during the school nativity play, long lost sisters reunited, a set-up with a school teacher and a scandalous WPA artist who is new to town and of course, a hurricane.
The context of the book gives the reader and impromptu history lesson that is enjoyable rather than heavy handed. There is an ever present wisdom in the practical life Grandma Dowdel leads. We get the pleasure of watching Mary Alice prepare for adulthood one lesson at a time as her admiration grows for the same place she loathed at the beginning of the book.
This would be a wonderful read aloud for grades 3rd to 6th. The book has many humorous moments that would have the entire class laughing. It’s also a great individual read for anyone of that age.
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