A Year Down Yonder

A Year Down Yonder
By Richard Peck
Publisher/Date: Puffin Books 2000
# of Pages: 130
Reading Level: ages 9-12
Genre: historical fiction


Summary:

This is the story of a girl named Mary Alice who has to leave her home city of Chicago to live with her Grandma in the country. this takes place during the Great Depression. Grandma is a very unique woman, and at first, Mary Alice doesn't think she can last for a year. on her first day of school, a bully, Mildred, follows her home to get money out of her, and Grandma totally tricks her and makes her stolen horse run away. Grandma does lots of other crazy things throughout the year. for example, she pours glue over a boys head and steals his pocket knife, she uses a tractor to get pecans to fall from her neighbors tree, she steals pumpkins for pumpkin pie, she charges people different amounts of money for burgoo, she traps foxes for extra money, she reunites long-lost sisters, and she keeps a snake in her attic to keep mice away. however, even though the town has the view of her being a crazy old woman, she also has a very sweet side to her underneath her hard outer shell. for example, she looks out for Mary Alice when Mildred bullies her, she makes delicious pies for the Halloween party, she uses the money from the burgoo to help out an old lady and her crippled son, she makes a beautiful costume for Mary Alice to wear as the virgin Mary, she uses the money from the fox furs to buy train tickets for Mary Alice and her brother, Joey, she saves Mary Alice's cat and kittens from the tornado, she plays matchmaker, and she makes sure that her neighbors are ok after the tornado hits. Mary Alice learns a lot from her, and when it's time for her to leave, she doesn't want to go home. however, Grandma makes her go, and years later, Mary Alice gets married to her sweetheart she met while living with Grandma in her house in the country. They lived happily ever after.

Who Benefits from reading this book?

Anyone who wants to read a good, entertaining book will benefit from reading this. it also teaches some good lessons about love and sacrifice. Grandma is a fun character to get to know, and i think some kids will be able to relate to this book. It's also set in the time of the Great Depression, so kids who read it will be able to get a feel for what it was like during that time.

What problems could this book cause?

I don't think there are any problems with this book. It's entertaining, has a good message, and ends happily. If you wanted to get picky, someone might say that Grandma is a bit mean to some people. For example, when she takes the extra pecans and pumpkins, calls her neighbor rude names, or when she pours glue all over that boys head. those things aren't very good even though she tries to justify the reason she does those things. My opinion is that the good things she does outweigh the bad. so i don't think this book would cause problems.

My reaction:

I really liked this book. i'm glad it was one of the required books we had to read. sometimes i don't like books like this, but i thought this one was really entertaining. i want to meet grandma. i thought it was really cute that Mary Alice ended up marrying Royce. i think that was a nice touch. i think this book deserves the Newberry Medal it got. I would recommend it.