*Sequel to Newbery Honor book A Long Way From Chicago.
Plot: It is 1937 and a recession has hit the nation hard, so Mary Alice is going to stay with her Grandma Dowdel in a small town in Illinois while her parents try to find work in Chicago. Grandma Dowdel is a feisty old woman who is well known in town to be trigger happy. She likes to pull fast ones, like when the bully in Mary Alice's class tries to get a dollar out of her, Grandma sets the girl's stolen horse loose with her shoes laced around it's neck so she'd have to walk home barefoot. When Mary Alice invites the boy she likes over to study, a sickening scream comes from upstairs and a naked lady comes running down from the attic with a snake holding on to her. Apparently Grandma hadn't mentioned anything about the snake living in the attic when their lodger had set up his art supplies there. That definitely had the town talking.
Genre: Historical fiction
Suggested reading level: Grades 5-8
Subjects/themes: Recession, Great Depression, Illinois, family, rural living.
Other Books by Richard Peck:
- A Season of Gifts
- On the Wings of Heroes
- The River Between Us
- The Teacher's Funeral
- Here Lies the Librarian
- A Long Way From Chicago
Awards:
- Newbery Medal Winner
- School Library Journal Best Books of the Year
- American Library Association Notable Books for Children
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