A Year Down Yonder by Richard Peck

2001 Newbery Medal
1. Bibliography
Peck, Richard. 2000. A YEAR DOWN YONDER. New York: Dial. ISBN 0803725183.

2. Summary
Amid the backdrop of the Great Depression, fifteen year-old Mary Alice must leave her home in Chicago to spend a year with her grandmother in a small, rural Illinois town while her parents get back on their feet. The prospect of living with Grandma Dowdel is less than exciting for Mary Alice, who remembers her grandmother from summer visits as a hard-knuckled, rifle-toting, no-nonsense kind of woman. To make matters even worse, her new schoolmates see her as the “rich girl from Chicago” and are reluctant to accept her, even though her clothes are just as few and just as worn as theirs. Over the course of the year, and through a series of community events, such as the local turkey shoot and the annual school Christmas pageant, Mary Alice begins to see a different side, often humorous, of Grandma Dowdel and the town.

3. Critical Analysis

Richard Peck has a talent for characterization. Through Grandma Dowdel's short-on-words-but-long-on-wisdom dialogue and her hilarious antics, he paints a picture of an outwardly gruff but inwardly benevolent old woman with a sense of humor, a sense of justice, and the spunk to carry it out. From her proactive plan to foil the Halloween pranks of the local boys (booby-trapping her privy to keep them from upturning it) to putting the snooty DAR ladies in their places, Grandma Dowdel comes to life under Peck's pen to earn her way into Mary Alice's, and the reader's, heart.

Peck captures the spirit of the time and the spirit of the people who lived it without overwhelming the reader with a history lesson. Just the right amount of historical detail puts this story in context.

4. Review Excerpts
Publisher's Weekly--"...hilarious and poignant..."

School Library Journal--"Peck has created a delightful, insightful tale that resounds with a storyteller's wit, humor, and vivid description. Mary Alice's memories capture the atmosphere, attitudes, and lifestyle of the times while shedding light on human strengths and weaknesses."

VOYA-- "...never loses its charming sense of humor even though the vignettes ultimately deal with important issues such as class, gossip, and friendship."

5. Connections

*History teachers can use this book or parts of it as an introduction/comapanion to studies of the Great Depression.

*Other books by Richard Peck:
DON'T LOOK AND IT WON'T HURT. 1999. Henry Holt. ISBN 0805063161.
FATHER FIGURE. 1996. Puffin. ISBN 014037969X.
A LONG WAY FROM CHICAGO. 1999. Penguin Putnam. ISBN 0141303522.
REMEMBERING THE GOOD TIMES. 1986. Laurel Leaf. ISBN 0440973392.
THOSE SUMMER GIRLS I NEVER MET. 1989. Dell. ISBN 0440204577.

Related books:
Horvath, Polly. 2001. EVERYTHING ON A WAFFLE. A folksy tale about small town life as seen through the eyes of eleven-year-old Primrose Squarp.

Brown, Elizabeth Ferguson. 2000. A COAL COUNTRY CHRISTMAS. A girl describes the warm memories and hard way of life that she recalls when she and her mother go to spend Christmas at her grandmother's house in Pennsylvania's coal country.