A Year Down Yonder by Richard Peck

It seems odd to say I really love books set in America (remember I live in Australia), set in times past (this is set in 1937) and set in small rural towns (this one is in Illinois). Perhaps it goes back to my childhood reading of the Little House books which I devoured.

A Year Down Yonder won the Newbery Medal in 2001. This means it is famous in America and it also means it has gone through lots of cover designs (see below).  I spied my copy (above) with a sale price in a Sydney children's bookstore. I know how much Horn Book editor, Roger Sutton, adores the writing of Richard Peck and I knew I had already read and enjoyed A long way from Chicago - many years ago so it was easy to make the decision to buy this book. I started reading it this morning and finished it about two hours later - yes it is THAT good!

This book is a sequel but I have no memory of reading of A long Way from Chicago so A Year down Yonder can certainly stand alone. Mary Alice is a wonderful character but it is her Grandmother that I especially love. She has a gruff exterior but underneath she has a heart of gold. She is wise, confident, loud, clever, caring and so very very hard working.

Click these review quotes for more plot details:

And the vignettes, some involving a persnickety Grandma acting nasty while accomplishing a kindness, others in which she deflates an overblown ego or deals with a petty rivalry, are original and wildly funny. The arena may be a small hick town, but the battle for domination over that tiny turf is fierce, and Grandma Dowdel is a canny player for whom losing isn’t an option. Kirkus

Between antic capers, Peck reveals a marshmallow heart inside Grandma's rock-hard exterior and adroitly exposes the mutual, unspoken affection she shares with her granddaughter. Like Mary Alice, audience members will breathe a sigh of regret when the eventful year ""down yonder"" draws to a close. Publishers Weekly

You can read an extract here.  You can also listen to an audio sample from the first page onwards.  I would follow A Year Down Under with Letters to Missy Violet, Turtle in Paradise, and The Girl who bought mischief.  I also recommend other books by Richard Peck such as The Mouse with the question mark Tail and Secrets at Sea.