Year Down Yonder

Whether or not you've read Long Way from Chicago, you're sure to love the sequel just as much. In A Year Down Yonder, Mary Alice isn't just visiting - she's going to live with Grandma Dowdel until her family can get on their feet again. It's 1937 and her father has lost his job, which means her family has had to move out of their apartment. Joey is now in the Civilian Conservation Corps out West, so for the first time, Mary Alice has to brave Grandma Dowdel by herself. She travels by train to Grandma's tiny town with her cat Bootsie, and her radio - her last link to civilization as she knows it. As soon as she hops off the train, Grandma marches her to the high school to get enrolled, where Mary Alice gets picked on and stared at because she's from the "big city." Although rough at first, Mary Alice soon makes friends and even finds love as she is dragged along on all kinds of crazy adventures with Grandma. She also comes to know and respect Grandma a little more. Winner of the 2001 Newbery Medal, I think this book is just as good - if not better than its precursor, and begs to be read out loud! By Richard Peck, 130 pgs, pb. - Jess