Book Review: A Long Way From Chicago/A Year Down Yonder

A while ago I was looking for a good book to read so I looked at my library's list of humorous young adult fiction books. These were on the list, and they were so fun! They are clever and well written and although not deep, life-changing reads, they are definitely worth reading.

A Year Down Yonder, by Richard Peck, is a Newberry Medal book, and if you're looking for an entertaining, quick read, you won't be disappointed. It's the sequel to Peck's to A Long Way from Chicago, in which a brother and sister are sent off to stay the summer with their hoot of a grandmother in rural Illinois. The grandmother is a character and a half who through her unconventional escapades, teachers her grandkids a thing or two.

In A Year Down Yonder, Mary Alice (the sister) stays the whole year with her grandmother so you get to hear a whole fall, winter, spring and summer's worth of hilarity from Grandma Dowdle. There's some sticking up for underdogs, some sweet revenge, some selfless service, some pranks, and although some of Grandma's tricks might be against the law, she has her reasons. At the beginning of the year, Mary Alice is dreading her stay but by the end, she has learned quite a bit about her grandma and her views on the world, and becomes more like her than she would have thought.

I hope you like them!