Peck, R. (2002). A year down yonder. New York , NY
A Newbery Award winner, this story is set during the Great Depression of 1937. Times are hard, and fifteen year old Mary Alice’s parents have no choice but to send her to live with her grandmother. Mary Alice soon finds that her grandmother is quite a force to reckon with as she deals with pranksters, stands her ground with neighbors, and raises prices on a drink at the Annual Turkey Shoot. Despite there being conflict between Grandma Dowdel and community members, Grandma somehow always finds herself on the better end of things.
Mary Alice struggles at first to adjust to her new school with a classroom filled with different aged students. After a bad start with a bully, things start looking up as she takes part in the Christmas play, begins submitting articles to the community newspaper, and begins speaking to the new boy at school.
As the school year comes to an end, things have changed dramatically. Mary Alice and Royce agree to stay in contact, and most of all, she understands her grandmother now more than ever. The theme, never judge a book by its cover, is something that the main character in this story learns from the year spent with her grandmother. Even though her grandmother appears rigid and unkind at first, Mary Alice finds that she is quite the opposite in doing kind acts for the community and for Mary Alice herself.
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