2000, New York: Dial Books for Young Readers.
Annotation: During the depression, a fifteen year old lives with her grandmother in Illinois.
Summary: In 1937 the depression has hit the Dowdel family in a hard way forcing them to send their fifteen year old daughter, Mary Alice, to live with Grandma Dowdel. Mary Alice leaves Chicago by train to a small farming town, where her grandma lives. She arrives at the beginning of the school year and has several school experiences, not to her liking while learning to live with her no-nonsense grandma. Surprisingly with the help of her grandma, Mary Alice is able to escape relentless trouble from a girl at school and Grandma Dowdel shines in numerous ways.
Mary Alice becomes interested in a new boy in town, Royce McNabb. When the school year finishes, Mary Alice, realizes she must go back to Chicago so she promises to write Royce. Mary Alice eventually returns to the small town and marries Royce on her grandma’s front porch.
Series: Sequel to A Long Way From Chicago by Richard Peck.
Awards: A Newberry Award winner, a National Book Award finalist, and on the Best Book for Young Adults list by the American Library Association.
Rank: 3.0 Stars-Good read, just not that different.
