Cindy (summerlady46) -
Helpful Score: 4
I think this book was written for young adults, but this old adult loved it!! Part of its charm is that the setting is life in the slow lane...simple people, simple living...no batteries required! While Grandma is gruff, she is wise and loving in her own way. This is just fun, easy reading without violence, cussing or sex!
Sheryl O. (Everett-Reader) reviewed A Long Way From Chicago: A Novel in Stories (Grandma Dowdel, Bk 1) on + 216 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 3
Newberry honor book - really enjoyable.
ANNOTATION
A boy recounts his annual summer trips to rural Illinois with his sister during the Great Depression to visit their larger-than-life grandmother.
FROM THE PUBLISHER
What happens when Joey and his sister, Mary Alice -- two city slickers from Chicago -- make their annual summer visits to Grandma Dowdel's seemingly sleepy Illinois town? August 1929: They see their first corpse, and he isn't resting easy.
August 1930: The Cowgill boys terrorize the town, and Grandma fights back. August 1931: Joey and Mary Alice help Grandma trespass, poach, catch the sheriff in his underwear, and feed the hungry -- all in one day. And there's more, as Joey and Mary Alice make seven summer trips to Grandma's -- each one funnier than the year before -- in self-contained chapters that readers can enjoy as short stories or take together for a rollicking good novel. In the tradition of American humorists from Mark Twain to Flannery O'Connor, popular author Richard Peck has created a memorable world filled with characters who, like Grandma herself, are larger than life and twice as entertaining.
ANNOTATION
A boy recounts his annual summer trips to rural Illinois with his sister during the Great Depression to visit their larger-than-life grandmother.
FROM THE PUBLISHER
What happens when Joey and his sister, Mary Alice -- two city slickers from Chicago -- make their annual summer visits to Grandma Dowdel's seemingly sleepy Illinois town? August 1929: They see their first corpse, and he isn't resting easy.
August 1930: The Cowgill boys terrorize the town, and Grandma fights back. August 1931: Joey and Mary Alice help Grandma trespass, poach, catch the sheriff in his underwear, and feed the hungry -- all in one day. And there's more, as Joey and Mary Alice make seven summer trips to Grandma's -- each one funnier than the year before -- in self-contained chapters that readers can enjoy as short stories or take together for a rollicking good novel. In the tradition of American humorists from Mark Twain to Flannery O'Connor, popular author Richard Peck has created a memorable world filled with characters who, like Grandma herself, are larger than life and twice as entertaining.
Helpful Score: 2
This is one of my favorite books, it will make you laugh so hard you'll end up in tears.
Erin C. (brandinsp) reviewed A Long Way From Chicago: A Novel in Stories (Grandma Dowdel, Bk 1) on + 113 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 2
Read this one, then follow it with "A Year Down Yonder". Wonderful stories - for kids and adults alike. Have re-read both books many times.
Helpful Score: 1
Wonderfully written, the book gives the reader a peek into how the depression affected families. It has an endearing and funny quality that makes you fall in love with the main characters.
Dawn B. (kokyread) reviewed A Long Way From Chicago: A Novel in Stories (Grandma Dowdel, Bk 1) on + 15 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
This was such an enjoyable book to read with my son---we thoroughly enjoyed this light summer read
DeeAnn H. (anndeehi) reviewed A Long Way From Chicago: A Novel in Stories (Grandma Dowdel, Bk 1) on + 2 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
I loved, loved, LOVED this book. Our book club read it and it was a solid hit with everyone. That doesn't happen very often!
Helpful Score: 1
This coming of age story is both funny and poignant.
Dawn B. (kokyread) reviewed A Long Way From Chicago: A Novel in Stories (Grandma Dowdel, Bk 1) on + 15 more book reviews
My son(12) and I are reading it together. This book is on their summer reading list----we are enjoying it!!! Quite a lot of history runs throughout the book, I would rate this book very high for middle school students.
Linda (Angeleyes) -
A Long Way From Chicago" is a hilarious book. While some (including me) may find this book an easy read, it is a fully enjoyable one! Each chapter of the book is a different summer visit to Grandma's Illinois town by Joey and Mary-Alice. Each of the seven summers gets more and more funny, and more and more outragous. I especially liked the fact that Grandma can make anyone, even the Sheriff, do what ever she likes. I also enjoyed all of the larger-than-life characters Peck creates. "A Long Way From Chicago" is definately a must read!
Sara R. reviewed A Long Way From Chicago: A Novel in Stories (Grandma Dowdel, Bk 1) on + 3 more book reviews
I loved reading this to my daughter. In some ways it appeals more to adults than the kids they are reading it to; it's an 'adult's kid's book'.
Rebecca B. (snickerdoodledog) reviewed A Long Way From Chicago: A Novel in Stories (Grandma Dowdel, Bk 1) on + 2 more book reviews
This is one of our family favorites. It is enjoyable for people of all ages. We highly recommend it to whoever we chat with about books. The sequel: A Year Down Yonder is just as enjoyable. Both books are funny and wholesome.
Bonnie F. (harmony85) reviewed A Long Way From Chicago: A Novel in Stories (Grandma Dowdel, Bk 1) on + 982 more book reviews
A Newbery Honor Book and National Book Award finalist.
A wonderful-sounding story set during the Great Depression. Discussion questions and activity ideas at the end of the book.
Ages 10 on up or so.
A wonderful-sounding story set during the Great Depression. Discussion questions and activity ideas at the end of the book.
Ages 10 on up or so.
A wonderful book! This was a very quick read simply because I didn't want to put it down. It is full of humor, whit, and wisdom!
Rosemary D. (fiberartist) reviewed A Long Way From Chicago: A Novel in Stories (Grandma Dowdel, Bk 1) on + 50 more book reviews
Loved this book--a really good book for kids. An award winner. Cute.
Michelle D. reviewed A Long Way From Chicago: A Novel in Stories (Grandma Dowdel, Bk 1) on + 21 more book reviews
National Book Award Finalist.
Newbeery Honor Book
Newbeery Honor Book
Dawn K. (dawk) reviewed A Long Way From Chicago: A Novel in Stories (Grandma Dowdel, Bk 1) on + 21 more book reviews
Both my son and daughter love stories about Gramma Dowdel. She is always unexpected, hiding a soft heart and a keen sense of what is the best thing to do under a gruff and forbidding exterior. The stories are warm and humorous and are accompanied by lots of laughter.
Cheryl (boomerbooklover) -
Series of stories about two Chicago children who spend a week with their grandmother on a farm each summer from 1929 thru 1935. The grandmother is sort of a battle-axe with a heart of gold. This is a young adult book, but I enjoyed these tales. Grandma Dowdle is a hoot of a character.
Heather F. (AZmom875) -
national book award finalist! newberry honor book!
