A Year Down Yonder by Richard Peck

I loved A Long Way from Chicago so much that I read this one in the same night, one after the other. And this one was just as much fun. This book is told from the perspective of Mary Alice, instead of her brother, Joey. Mary Alice is coming for a whole year to live with her grandma, because it is the middle of the Depression and her parents lost their jobs and can't afford to have her live with them for the year. She isn't super excited to live in this tiny podunk town for her junior year of high school. But she has all sorts of adventures and learning experiences ahead of her in store with her grandma. Grandma stays the most interesting and hilarious character--she is willing to steal people's pumpkins but then she also will extract money from people to give to a poor woman who has no income. She is crazy and hilarious and stubborn and always surprising. I loved this book just as much as A Long Way from Chicago and I think both of them were worthy reads for sure. I'm super happy to have both of them on our bookshelf, and I know Dane will love them when he gets older.