A Long Way from Chicago: A Novel in Stories
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A Long Way from Chicago: A Novel in Stories
by Authors:
Richard Peck
Released: 01 October, 2000
ISBN: 0141303522
Paperback
Sales Rank: 5810
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List price:
$5.99
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$5.39
(You save: $0.6)
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| Book > A Long Way from Chicago: A Novel in Stories > Customer Reviews: |
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Average Customer Rating: 
A Long Way from Chicago: A Novel in Stories >
Customer Review #1:
 A One Woman Crime Wave
It seems that GrandMa Dowdel lives in her own little world. She apparently disdains contact with her neighbors and thinks them all to be horses patooties. Once you get to know her better, you learn that her worst enemy may in fact be her best friend. The way she cons and browbeats the town banker into coughing back up the house recently foreclosed upon, free and clear, well it must be read to be enjoyed fully. Each chapter, a week the kids are dumped on Gandma so Mom and Dad can go fishing, reveals another action packed adventure in the constantly turning mischief mill that is Grandma Dowdels mind. I was given this book by my ten year old son after he finished it in record time, and I knocked it off in just one day. I cried at the end, as the boy, now a man heading off to war is on the troop train. He telegrammed his Depression-era Grandmother he would merely pass through without stopping, and after many delays, is treated to a heart warming experience Ill let author Richard Peck handle in his inimitable style.
A Long Way from Chicago: A Novel in Stories >
Customer Review #2:
"Everybodys private business is public property."
What a fun read! Peck presents 8 short tales which span several summers in rural Illinois during the Depression, when two kids make annual visits to their eccentric Grandmother. Narrated by the boy (two years old than his sister), these outrageous yarns create a wonderful atmosphere of wacky individualism and family bonding. It would be hard to find a literary granny as feisty, resourceful and fearless of authority as Grandma. Things are never dull when she stirs her stumps to create a mild uproar in that pompous little town. Her nefarious schemes range from a one-woman crime wave to appointing herself Champion of the helpless and downtrodden. Dont get on the wrong side of Mrs. Dowdel--if you value your reputation or your hide! Grandma remains undaunted and unflappable through bizarre but comical events. Pecks tongue-in cheek humor will bring many a chuckle as you are drawn into her slightly-shady activities. This book will delight kids of all ages--a winner, perfect for summer reading!
A Long Way from Chicago: A Novel in Stories >
Customer Review #3:
Richard Peck is a genius!
I am a big fan of Mr. Pecks writing. He has a way with words that makes him seem like he is fourteen right now, which in reality, he isnt. Now thats talent.The story is about Joey and Mary Alice Dowdel, two kids from Chicago who never have left the city until one summer in 1929. They go for one week to their Grandmother Dowdels in Cerro Gordo, Illinois. (Which, funnily enough, is just outside Mr. Pecks hometown of Decatur). Strange things happen there, including a mouse in a milk bottle, and living corpses. The story follows them for six years, and then goes to an epilouge of what happens to Joey. This was my first book I read that was from Richard Peck, and I am glad I read it. He has a gift for writing. I recomend the sequel to the book, A Year Down Yonder.
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A Long Way from Chicago: A Novel in Stories >
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