Newbery Medal "A Year Down Yonder" By Richard Peck

Peck, Richard. A Year Down Yonder. Dial Books, 2000.

A Year Down Yonder received the 2001 Newbery Medal Award. This story starts in the year 1937, while the U.S. economy is experiencing a recession. Times are very difficult and nearly 10 million people are out of work. Mary Alice is a 15 year old girl from Chicago and her parents have decided to send her to southern Illinois in order to live with her grandmother until times improve. The story is told from the perspective of Mary Alice after she becomes an adult. She has to adjust to the country lifestyle of the rural town where her grandmother lives. I enjoyed watched how Mary Alice's relationship with her grandmother is transformed throughout the book. Her lively grandmother definitely adds a spark of energy to the story and involves Mary Alice in some strange/funny situations. This story came to a surprising close by traveling forward a few years after Mary Alice has reached adulthood. She travels back to see her grandmother and share a very special moment with her.

Childhood memories of my own grandmother came flooding back to me as I read A Year Down Yonder. My grandmother was very similar to Mary Alice's Grandma Dowdel. They were both hard workers, wise with money, good cooks, helpful to people in the community, would say exactly what they thought, and were constantly getting into awkward situations. It was almost as if Peck modeled Grandma Dowdel exactly after my grandmother.

I have never read any other books written by Richard Peck. I enjoyed this one so much, that I would love to read the book A Long Way From Chicago. A Year Down Yonder is actually the sequel to A Long Way From Chicago. This book reminds me of Cynthia Voigt's 1982 novel called Dicey's Song. Both novels revolve around grandmother characters that appear to be cold and emotionless. As the novels evolve, the granddaughters learn that their grandmothers are showing love for them in a different way.

After reading this story, I walked away with the realization of how important it is for authors to incorporate history into their stories. I loved how this story included important parts of American history, such as the Great Depression, the recession of 1937, the missing Amelia Earhart, WWII, and the Civilian Conservation Corps. Most of the time, students dread reading history from a textbook. However, they seem to enjoy history more when it is accurately placed within an actual story with life-like characters.