A Year Down Yonder

A Year Down Yonder

Richard Peck

©2000

130 Pages

Ages 9-12

Summary

This story is set in the years of great depression. No one in the U.S. has a lot of money and so young Mary Alice is sent to live with her grandmother in the country until her parents are able to take care of her once more. Mary Alice isn't too keen on the idea. Her grandmother has never exactly been normal and the couple weeks she usually spent with her in the summers was more than enough. To add more on to the situation, her brother--who was usually with her during the summers--was sent away to work and would not be with her this time. Mary Alice arrives in the little town knowing what to expect but still wary. She is taken to school where she realizes at once she won't fit in. As a big city girl in a small town, most people didn't like her. Over the course of months, she comes to know and understand her grandmother a little better and makes a friend of one of the younger girls. Mary Alice sees her grandmother for who she is--a hardworking and fiercely loyal woman who does what she has to to bring balance into her little world.

A Year Down Yonder is a wonderful book filled with incredible humor. The grandmother is wild and out of control with a surprise every which way she turns. I have never really been one to thoroughly enjoy historical fiction, but this book broke down that wall. The humor will captivate you and granny will never seise to amaze.

Other Books in the Series:

A Long Way from Chicago