Jolene Dressman ED 320 Book Review Dr.

. Danny Wade February 18, 2013 A Long Way from Chicago By Richard Peck Joey Dowdel and his little sister, Mary Alice, leave the comforts of Chicago to visit their grandmother for a week each summer. To some this may sound like a normal summer activity, but then again, they have not met Grandma Dowdel or the people in her small Illinois community. This book is a collection of short stories starting in 1929 and ending in 1935. They are week-long adventures that have an individual plot and storyline in a reoccurring setting. The stories are accounts of life in a small sleepy town with characters such as Effie Wilcox, Sheriff Dickerson, the Cowgill boys, a snaggletooth tomcat, along with ordinary towns people. I dont think Grandmas a very good influence on us, said Mary Alice at the start of one summer. Grandma is a large woman and tells large whoppers to prove a point and lives her simple life to the absolute fullest. Grandma was also full of many words of wisdom of which to live by; Never trust an ugly woman. Shes got a grudge against the world. Through her gruff, hillbilly exterior, she was a smart woman who had a way of keeping peace and equality in her small town outsmarting Sheriff Dickerson, the Cowgills, Rubert Pennypacker and even a big time reporter. Grandma always ended up on top and easily found a way to keep peace in town and make sure that everyone knew their place and in a weird way maintain morality within the small community. I found myself laughing and cheering her on wondering what she was up to and how the story was going to turn out. Easily, Grandma is my favorite character.

My favorite chapter would have to be the last, The Troop Train 1942; Joe was on a troop train heading to basic training at Camp Leonard Wood. Throughout the book he had grown to love and respect his grandmother and her wacky ways realizing that she did love him and was a very special woman. Having sent word to his grandmother that his train would be passing through her town, but would not stop, Joe waited in anticipation to pass through the town and see the last house in town one more time. After many delays the train left the station and passed through town hours after it was expected. As I read with tears in my eyes, I can envision the train passing through the sleepy town, only to find the last house in town, light up from top to bottom, and grandma bigger than life standing on the porch waving at her beloved grandson in hopes of making yet another wacky memory. This story would easily integrate into an upper elementary or middle school literature curriculum. While the plot is not tied to any young adult problems in the world, the students might enjoy the story because it is fun and whimsical and can take them away from their daily lives. The characters are anything but flat, they are believable to anyone who has ever lived in a small town, and even though the story took place in the 1930s there is still something that can be identified with in many of the main characters in a setting that is easy to transport to because it is set up so well. The overall theme is the treatment of others. Grandma makes sure that everyone is treated fair and in a humane manor. I think that most students would enjoy reading the story. I believe this story could open the door to a variety of language arts lessons that would meet the needs on the Common Core Standards. One would be a creative writing assignment in which each student would pick a character, draw a picture of that character and then tell a story in the book from that characters point of view. You could also incorporate reader response theory in the lesson by asking three

key questions of each short story and ask levels of questions as assessment tools in the students participation and understanding of the story. The rich text if full of metaphors, similes and personification that would allow for opportunities to discuss various literary terms for state assessments.