A Long Way from Chicago

A Long Way From Chicago Book Review Book Response

The title of my book is A Long Way from Chicago, by Richard Peck, I would have to rate this book four stars. This book deserves four stars because it takes everyday life and turns it into an adventure. The story is about a boy, Joey and his sister Mary Alice as they spend seven summers with their Grandma in the 1930¿s. Events like the Great Depression and World War II are seen through the eyes of this historical fiction family. Each of the stars represents a key aspect in the book. The first star is about the connection between the siblings and their Grandma, at the end of each summer, Mary Alice and Joey are sad that they are leaving their Grandmother and they all do something together. In the summer of 1931, Mary Alice and Joey helped out with the milk wagon every morning. The second star is about the law and order that Grandma had in town. Everyone in the town found out early that Grandma wasn¿t as sweet as most Grandma¿s are, she has a shotgun that hangs above the door and uses it on anyone who would bother her or the siblings like Mrs. Wilcox. The third star is about the dreams that Grandma would give to Mary Alice and Joey. Mary Alice always wanted to fly and Grandma kept telling her never to give up in that dream. The last star is about how the book connects with daily life. Richard Peck does a great job on taking what happened in that time to create a humorous story, making you think you¿re at Grandma¿s house yourself. My name is Ryan Lefler and I am an 8th grade student at Harris Road Middle School in Concord, North Carolina. Some other books that you might find interesting that I¿ve read are On the Wings of Heroes by Richard Peck and My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Wonderful way to teach about the Great Depression!

I choose this novel to accompany a thematic unit on the Great Depression. What a wonderful book to use! The stories of Joey and Mary Alice, and their grandma, are halrious! They will keep studnet's attention while they learn!

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Mr.Bow jangles review

A Long Way From Chicago is a good book in my opinion, the plot of the story was humorous my favorite part of the book was when Mary alicewas dancing on the stage... When they come to visit there gandmother dowdel, they are there they get there releif from the city and they get to spend time with there mamas, but they don't always come when they want too... A Long way from Chicago was a fascinating novel to read...I am going to read the rest of the books.

A Long Way from Chicago..!

What I think about this book, is that it is very funny. Reasons I think this book is funny, is because of the Grandma's personality. Like the time when Grandma, Joey, and Maryann was riding in a boat and saw the sheriff's dancing in their underware. OMG..! that was so funny. My favorite character was Grandma. And my favorite part was when she was shooting at her cat... But I recommend this book to anyone. A very Great book.

Great book read for yourself

A Long Way from Chicago is a interesting and entertaining story. The story is about two kids named Mary Alice and Joey. They go to their fun and crazy grandmother's house every summer. At their grandmother's they experience stuff they will never forget. Over all this was a great comedy and is great for a family book or just for kids.

A Long Way From Chicago!!!

This book consists of three main characters grandma, Joey, and Mary Alice. The three of them together have many adventures. I liked the grandma in this book because she was so funny, she didn't care what people thought about her, she was kind to everyone. She just had a funny ways of showing it. That is what I personally think the author is trying to tell us. We should be ourselves, and also help others. I think he is saying that because someone helped him when he was in need. Read this book to learn more adventures with Grandma, Joey, and Mary!

A Long Way from Chicago.!!

I think that it was a very great book and I recommend it to any book reader. It was so great, I nearly died laughing at the characters. The three main characters are Joey, MaryAnn, last, but not least, my personal favorite, Grandma. She is so funny, especially the little pranks she’s always pulls on everyone. Grandma and her Grandchildren (Joey and MaryAnn) have great and fantastic adventures. Like the time when they were rolling down the river, and saw a bunch of men singing and dancing around in their underwear....OMG! That was so hilarious. My favorite scene was when Grandma's Tom cat hoped out of the coffin and freaked everybody out, as Grandma was shooting her shotgun like crazy making people run away in all different directions. But this book is a very tremendous book. It will have you rolling on the floor laughing. So I strongly recommend anyone to read this book, I enjoyed it very much myself.

It was a realey good book love it

The reason why I liked it because it was a action filled book but it had times that it was a serious book. The really interesting moments with gradma dowdel shooting the casket with her winchester. This is why I liked the book!

i believe this is the BEST!!! Book I have ever watched.........................

A Long Way from Chicago was a excellent book. It was funny, dramatic, like when Grandma shot the coffin after it had moved. The story was dramatic due to the awkward moments in the story. When grandma knew that those boys were going to break in she pretended that she left. Then the boys got what was coming to them.I liked the story because of all the great story's,like how the story was produced. rote,and how it was structered.The story had its off and on moments. when they got on the Blue Bird train.On there way back to chicago, at the end of the story.

A long way from chicago

This book, A Long Way From Chicago is really good. I read it with my class and it is hilarious and also very good. The setting takes place in a small farm town in Illinois. It is about a grandma that was really weird and did go crazy at times but she had really good reasons, she can also be kinda scary but friendly and trust worthy. The one thing I do know about her is SHE HAS A SHOT GUN AND KNOWS HOW TO USE IT!. But she does make a very good goose berry pie. Mary Alice and Joey Dowdel visits Grandma every summer in Illinois on a small farm just off Main street. In the end Mary Alice and Joey have made many memories. I know I liked this book and I hope you do, too.

Not a favorite

The book was well written just not a story that I could really get into to.

A long way from chicago

A Long Way From Chicago


A Long Way From Chicago was a really good book and I really enjoyed it. This book has everything from funniness to sadness. I loved the characters Joey, Mary Alice, and Grandma Dowdel. This book is about Joey and his sister Mary Alice who go to their Grandma Dowdel’s house nine times over nine years. I liked the entire story but the funniest part was when Grandma Dowdel took that old Winchester Shotgun and fired a hole into that wooden coffin! But the saddest part was when Joey sent a telegram to Grandma Dowdel saying “I will be coming though on a troop train watch for me”. The town was dark but every light in Grandma’s house was glowing and there she was waving and I waved back.

A GREAT BOOK!!!

A Long Way From Chicago is a,in my mind,a very good book.I found the plot of the story interesting,and funny. One of my faveorite parts of the book had to be when the main character and narrator,Joey,Mary Alice,and Grandma Dowdel where poaching and saw the sheriffs in thier underwear.That was also when Joey stated that Mary Alice's eyes"Bugged out".The chapters were short and single stories,and I found them very easy to read.I think A long Way From Chicago is a great book.

I recommend this book to everyone.

A LONG WAY FROM CHICAGO. A long way from chicago was a excellent book it was funny,dramtic,like when grandma shot the coffinafter it had (moved). The story was dramtic due to the ackward moments in the story.Like when grandma knew that those boys were going to break in,so she pretened that she left,and then the boys got what was coming to them.I liked the story because of all the great storys,like how the story was produced ,wrote,and how it was structered.The story had its off and on moments .Like when grandma alledgley forgot to drown the kittin,and it randomly apperaed in the kids clothes baske,when they got on the Blue Bird train.On there way back to chicago, at the end of the story.......................

Great Book to Read!!!

I absolutely love this book. It made me laugh. I certainly favored the character Grandma Dawdell. She is funny and outgoing. I loved when Granny went to the county fair with her grandkids, Mary Alice and Joey. Granny Dawdell was always getting what she wanted by playing tricks on other people. Joey wanted to ride on an airplane very bad...and she found a creative way to help him with his adventure. If you are loooking for your own adventure you must read, A Long Way from Chicago!

very entertaining

nostalgia and hilarious, colorful characters. Our entire family enjoyed these short stories!

not a really bad book, but...

In 1929, nine-year-old Joey Dowdel and his seven-year-old sister Mary Alice, who live in Chicago, IL, make the first of seven annual trips to spend a week with their Grandma Dowdel in southern Illinois, somewhere between Chicago and St. Louis, MO, during summer vacation. Each chapter covers one year's visit. And in those years, Joey and Mary Alice get to see and help Grandma give a funeral for Shotgun Cheatham, the town reprobate; get even with the Cowgill boys for their vandalism; trap catfish to feed the traveling unemployed men hit hard by the Depression; try to win the pie contest at the county fair; assist Vandalia Eubanks and Junior Stubbs to elope and get married ala Romeo and Juliet style; use the local rummage sale to keep Mrs. Elsie Wilcox's house from being foreclosed; and observe the town's centennial celebration.
The year 1935 was the last visit because Joey was fifteen and the next year would be in line for a summer job in Chicago. However, there is a final chapter, almost an "afterword," for 1942 when he was going into the air corps to fight in World War II, and passed by Grandma Dowdel's house on the train. The idea of "A Novel in Stories" is that the plot progresses in a series of short stories. The first chapter actually had appeared as a short story in Twelve Shots: Stories About Guns edited by Harry Mazer in 1997. I first heard of this book through Scholastic and Children's Book of the Month clubs. But what I heard did not necessarily impress me. Of course, Scholastic and Children's B.M.O.C. both try to make the books they sell sound as good as possible, and their synopsis of A Long Way from Chicago was, "Grandma Dowdel lies, cheats, trespasses, and wakes up her sleepy little town-always for a good cause." To me, it did not sound very good. It was a Newbery Honor book in 1999, and its sequel, A Year Down Yonder, in which Mary Alice has been sent to spend the whole 1937-1938 school year with Grandma Dowdel while Joey is out West planting trees through a government work program, won the Newbery Medal in 2001. This does not surprise me, as being a Newbery winner nowadays does NOT mean that a book is good, or even fit to read for that matter. Grandma Dowdel returns in the year 1958, without Joey and Mary Alice, in a later book A Season of Gifts.
It is true that there is a great deal of humor in the situations found in the book, but to see the humor one must overlook the fact that Grandma tells lies (some of which are described as whoppers), brews her own beer during prohibition, sets illegal fish traps, flaunts the law (even though the law in this case is somewhat less than perfect), cheats at the pie contest, and starts false rumors. In examining the book from a Biblical worldview, it has been suggested that one's view of the book will depend on his personal viewpoint on seeing humor in actions that are not always above reproach. I think that the underlying basis of the book may be encapsulated by the statement, "It was a story that grew in the telling in one of those little towns where there's always time to ponder all the different kinds of truth." Rather than a search for absolute truth, even in fiction, the idea of "different kinds of truth" sounds more like humanistic relativism. Also, when Joey asks Grandma about the punishment for setting illegal traps, she replies, "Nothin' if you don't get caught," which Joey concludes "was an example of the way Grandma reasoned." All in all, this

Perfect title for summer reading for the tween crowd

A Long Way from Chicago tells the story of a brother and sister who spend one week of each summer with their grandma who lives in a small town that seems miles from Chicago. Each chapter tells an outrageous story from their stay in one year. My kids loved the stories and begged me to read just one more. The chapters are about twenty pages each, though the last one is only two pages and will grab your heart.

Amazing and exciting

A book that our ELA class is reading as our 7th novel. This is probably the best book we read. We read Crispin, The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle, Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH, The Westing Game, Bridge to Terabithia, Amos Fortune, and A Long Way From Chicago. When we have to read this book for homework, the excitement and curiosity forces me go on to next page and soon chapters. Grandma Dowdel is a kind of scary but friendly and trusty character. She has a shotgun and knows how to use it, but she also makes delicious gooseberry pies. I would recommend this novel to everyone. It is wonderful.

A Teens Review Fantastic book

A Long Way from Chicago is a great book because it is funny, entertaining, and interesting. I couldn't stop reading it. This book is about two kids named Joey and Mary Alice Dowdel.
Joey narrates the story, he shares the experiences of visiting his thrifty, hardworking, crazy grandmother. She is different than most grandmothers; she does alot of things a usual grandma would never do. Such as go fishing, hunting and making soap. The story takes place during The Great Depression. Mary Alice and Joey go to visit every summer.
The three of them together have some great adventures. Some might even suprise you. I liked the grandma in this book because she was so funny, she didn't care what people thought about her, she was kind to everyone. She just had a funny was of showing it.
That is what I personally think the author is trying to tell us. We should be ourselves, and also help others. I think he is saying that because someone helped him when he was in need. Read this book to learn more adventures with Grandma,Joey and Mary!