Absolutely in my top five favorite books written in the past 50 years. Every child should be so lucky as to have a grandmother like Grandma Dowdel packing her rifle and ready to take on any comers...the woman is awesome...and every chapter is another year of her cleverness and audacity.....nothing like a grandma with audacity. Those lucky kids, Joey and Mary Alice, who get to come south and stay with her every summer. Winner of a Newbery Honor and the sequel A Year Down Yonder picked up the Newbery Medal.
Highly recommended by Barb Langridge, abookandahug.com
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This Newbery Honor Winner and National Book Award Finalist is an unforgettable modern classic and features the debut of the larger-than-life Grandma Dowdel
What happens when Joey and his sister, Mary Alice—two city slickers from Chicago—make their annual summer visits to Grandma Dowdel's seemingly sleepy Illinois town? August 1929: They see their first corpse, and he isn't resting easy. August 1930: The Cowgill boys terrorize the town, and Grandma fights back. August 1931: Joey and Mary Alice help Grandma trespass, poach, catch the sheriff in his underwear, and feed the hungry—all in one day.
And there's more, as Joey and Mary Alice make seven summer trips to Grandma's—each one funnier than the year before—in self-contained chapters that readers can enjoy as short stories or take together for a rip-roaringly good novel. In the tradition of American humorists from Mark Twain to Flannery O'Connor, popular author Richard Peck has created a memorable world filled with characters who, like Grandma herself, are larger than life and twice as entertaining. --- from the publisher
160 pages 978-0803722903 Ages 9-12
Keywords: Newbery Honor, grandmother, summer, brother and sister, humor, fun, 9 year old, 10 year old, 11 year old, 12 year old
Newbery Honor Winner National Book Award Finalist ALA Best Book for Young Adults ALA Notable Book New York Times Best Seller
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A Newbery Honor Book
A summer they'll never forget.
Each summer Joey and his sister, Mary Alice—two city slickers from Chicago—visit Grandma Dowdel's seemingly sleepy Illinois town. Soon enough, they find that it's far from sleepy...and Grandma is far from your typical grandmother. From seeing their first corpse (and he isn't resting easy) to helping Grandma trespass, catch the sheriff in his underwear, and feed the hungry—all in one day—Joey and Mary Alice have nine summers they'll never forget!---from the publisher
Other reviews:
"A rollicking celebration of an eccentric grandmother and childhood memories." —School Library Journal, starred review
"Each tale is a small masterpiece of storytelling." —The Horn Book, starred review
"Grandma Dowdel embodies not only the heart of a small town but the spirit of an era gone by...Remarkable and fine." —Kirkus Reviews, starred review
