2001 Newbery winner, A Year Down Yonder by Richard Peck (2001) follows Mary Alice as she spend the year with her formidable Grandmother in a little town in rural Illinois in the middle of the Great Depression. It’s a gem of a Newbery: short, funny, and skillfully written. A sequel to the delightful A Long Way From Chicago, this episodic novel continues the humorous schemes and quirky sense of justice of Grandma who rules her little town by knowing everyone’s secrets and keeping everyone out of her own.
What I liked. The characters, especially Grandma Dowdel, are just so fun and quirky. Grandma Dowdel joins the ranks of formidable grandmotherly characters like Neville Longbottom’s Grandmother from Harry Potter, Marilla and Rachel Lynn from Anne of Green Gables, (or for a Newbery example, Dicey’s Grandmother from Dicey’s Song by Cynthia Voigt). My own two maternal Grandmothers were forces in their own right–large ladies with large personalities and firm opinions on the way that things ought to be done. I love that Grandma Dowdel is that star of the show.
What was interesting . After I read this book, I discovered that my mother’s paternal grandmother was a young woman in rural Illinois just about the time that Mary Alice was there. Before this book, I wouldn’t have had almost any images of that time and place. And while this book is probably more concerned with small town characters and Grandma’s shenanigans rather than portraying a historically accurate description of Depression-era southern Illinois, still the texture and concerns of the time come through, quietly helping me feel connected to a great-grandmother I never knew. (Update: My mother added a few more details about my Great Grandma Dorothy :”She often went by “Dot,” although her grandchildren called her as Grandma Jensen (and her second husband was Grampa Jerry.) When she was an early adolescent she lived with her aunt and uncle on a farm near Rockford, Illinois. My mother remembers that Grandma Jensen loved to watch Jeopardy and they would talk over morning coffee, and sometimes they’d take public transportation in Chicago when to go shopping.“)
What were some limitations. I think that Mary Alice the narrator is mostly a window for us to experience Grandma and isn’t overly developed in her own right. In reading the prequel, A Long Way From Chicago, which has Mary Alice’s older brother Joey narrate (and takes place over the 8 summers they came down to see their grandmother), Mary Alice actually comes through in that first book a bit stronger and more distinctive than she does in this book. Still, she’s likable and has a few of her own adventures. In the first book, Joey makes an explicit comparison between Mary Alice and Grandma Dowdel, and I think that in this book Richard Peck continues that theme, but probably could have made it more explicit.
Similarity to other Newbery winners. It reminded me a bit of Thimble Summer, Miracles on Maple Hill, Up A Road Slowly, and Strawberry Girl with its rural/small town mid-century America setting and female protagonist. Outside of Newberies, it reminded me most of Homer Price by Robert McCloskey or Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain.
What it teaches me as a writer. Richard Peck (according to wikipedia) was a prolific writer (41 novels in 41 years) with a firm process of writing and revising (writing each page 6 times, then when it was perfect, taking out 20 words and throwing out his first chapter when he was done with a book and writing it again from scratch). I think his ability to craft a humorous tale within a chapter succinctly with a surprising moral twist and larger than life characters that somehow don’t become caricatures is so impressive. In many ways, my slow, large novel is the opposite of his impressive prolific style, but I think in creating a town full of characters, I can learn a lot from Richard Peck!
Have you read A Year Down Yonder? What are your favorite novels with formidable grandmothers?
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