A Year Down Yonder by Richard Peck

Confession time.  I broke my own rule.  I read a book in a series out of order and I have no one to blame but myself.  I knew it was my turn to post and had no fresh "BeTween" material to review.  I dove into my daughter's closet (where all of the 'already read' books sit waiting for either me to read or put in the next garage sale) and came out with A Year Down Yonder.  However,  I consider my foray into the closet a huge success for two reasons.  One, the book was an excellent choice.  Two, I escaped the closet without getting a Polly Pocket shoe jammed in my knee cap.  Success, indeed.

Mary Alice is 15 and is used to spending her summers along with her brother Joey, in a small town in Illinois.  She and Joey help their grandma on the farm and in the garden but always look forward to going back to their native Chicago before school starts each year.  The year is 1937 and times are extremely tough for the family. Joey is now 18 and out west working for the forest service.  Mary Alice's parents have been hit extra hard by the depression and this summer she isn't just going to visit the farm for the summer.  She'll be there to stay...for an entire year!  Mary Alice is not exactly thrilled with her new arrangements.  And neither are her new classmates, as they quickly dub her as the "girl from Chicago".  Mary Alice must try to fit it in at a new school, adjust to being on the farm without her brother and build a relationship with her no-nonsense grandmother. 

It was very easy for me to fall in love with this book and it's many themes.  First and foremost was the relationship between grandmother and granddaughter.  While not the most outwardly loving grandmother,  Grandma Dowel would do anything to protect and help her granddaughter fit in, she just has an unusual way of showing it.  Reading as Mary Alice discovered this for herself was touching. 

Also central to the book was the theme of community and hard work.  Even though the small Illinois community was suffering as much if not more than the rest of the country at that time, the townspeople never turned their backs on each other.  Grandma Dowel was front and center when it came to setting the example, too.  Mary Alice watched as she baked pies for hungry neighbors, returned a stolen horse to it's rightful owner and freed the town's grumpiest old man from downed tornado damage.  Can you think of more powerful lessons than those? 

I would recommend this book for children ages 9-13 and even younger if they are more of an advanced reader.  This would be a great family read aloud book, too.  The lessons about family, hard work and community are simple and clean.    I give the book a G rating because there is no language and there are no inappropriate themes whatsoever.  I give myself an A for finding an excellent book. Maybe I should break the rules more often.

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