A Long Way From Chicago by Richard Peck
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Book Reviews of A Long Way From Chicago
Book Review: family favorite
Summary: 5 Stars
Not necessarily written for the younger crowd, but our youngest son's kindergarten teacher recommended it when he was in kindergarten. I read it out loud to the kids and couldn't get through the first chapter without tears of laughter. Over the years since, we have read this book and the sequel, A Year Down Yonder, together several times and it is still a family favorite. We have become big fans of several of the author's other books as well. He provides very interesting, lovable flawed characters that facilitate rich family talk about things like honesty and "situational ethics." We recently purchased several copies as Christmas presents for members of a mother-daughter book group we attend. We're looking forward to the discussion of "the unforgettable Grandma Dowdle."Book Review: Grandma Lies, Cheats, Smokes and Drinks Beer
Summary: 5 Stars
As the country slides into the Great Depression, Joey and his sister Mary Alice are shipped out to the sticks to spend a week at Grandma Dowdel's. They batten down for seven days of boredom and country chores, but nothing could have prepared them for a storm like Grandma. She lies, cheats, smokes, and drinks beer. A mountain of a woman, she answers the door wielding a shotgun, welcoming visitors with a "What now?" or a "Whatever you're selling, I don't want any." But over time, Joey and Mary Alice learn to cherish their adventures with Grandma and to see through her gruff exterior to the heart and soul of a country town.
Richard Peck's novel in stories A Long Way from Chicago (Dial Books for Young Readers: 1998) is a throwback to the heyday of American storytelling, carrying on the tradition of Mark Twain, Sherwood Anderson, Ring Lardner, and James Thurber. He brings Middle America to life with a pitch perfect ear for dialogue and a wonderfully humorous touch. In "A One Woman Crime Wave," Grandma and the kids trespass on the local Rod and Gun Club's stream to trap catfish that they'll later feed to the drifters on their way out of town, complete with bottles of home brewed beer despite Prohibition. Joey's describes their stop to visit Grandma's old boss: "She was by many years the oldest person we'd ever seen up till then. Bald as an egg, but she needed a shave. And not a tooth in her head." Later, in "The Phantom Brakeman," they harbor a fugitive girl and facilitate her elopement. Grandma fends off the girl's irate mother: "And I'll tell you something else for free. If you set a foot over that doorsill, I'll ring your red neck." Peck has the natural storyteller's talent for making us laugh at ourselves while conveying something meaningful about life. Through Joey and Mary Alice's outlaw adventures with their renegade Grandma, readers learn the virtue of defiance, the meaning of courage, and the essence of pride while laughing out loud at this deserving Newbery Honor Book.
Book Review: leafystar
Summary: 5 Stars
This was one of the funniest books i have ever read it's characters were great grandma especially. Other great things about this book was how Richard Peck was able too make it so funny but same time give it a great plot.
A MUST READ...!
Book Review: Grandma is Spry
Summary: 5 Stars
In perhaps his best known work, the stories of Richard Peck shine more than any tale of early America by Mark Twain ever could. The characters and era are layered in such a way that the historical time comes to life in these fictional pages.
Joey and Mary Alice Dowdel spend a week each August with their grandma in Southern Illinois starting in the time they reached school age until high school. Yet the adventures grandma leads her grandchildren on were hardly a reflection of a woman dealing with old age. Allegedly a respected elder, grandma proves as mischivous as any child. From the plane ride depicted on the front cover of the book to the mouse in the milk, there was never a dull summer with grandma.
"A Long Way from Chicago" is fast paced and certain to bring a smile to reader's faces with its recollections of a simpler time. Peck is the type of writer that makes children excited about reading, and I commend him for his work.
Book Review: Grade A
Summary: 4 Stars
This book came in within 5 days and was in excellent condition. It was as good as or better than I expected.