Tag Archives: Newbery Award

A Year Down Yonder by Richard Peck

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A Year Down Yonder is a novel by Richard Peck. This book won the Newbery Medal in 2001. It is the sequel to Peck’s A Long Way from Chicago, which received a Newbery Honor in 1999. This story takes place in 1938, during the Great Depression. Joey and Mary Alice are from Chicago. Joey has just left home to join the army. Mary Alice, his 15-year-old sister, is sent to stay with her grandmother in the country. This is disappointing to Mary Alice, because she does not like the idea of living in a farming community. However, her parents feel that they have no choice but to send Mary Alice away due to their financial hardship.

At first, Mary Alice struggles to get used to her new surroundings. Some of her fellow high school students are mean to her. However, Mary Alice’s grandmother comes to the rescue and turns the tables on the bullies. Her grandmother is very protective, and she finds many ways to help Mary Alice feel at home.  Mary Alice gradually becomes accustomed to country life, and after an extended stay with her grandmother, she becomes reluctant to return to Chicago. 

This book is similar in many ways to A Long Way from Chicago. Both books are very enjoyable to read. However, I found A Year Down Yonder to be even better than the first book. The grandmother is highly entertaining in this book, as always. In my opinion, this book is even more humorous and memorable than the first book. It also provides a good historical glimpse into that time period. Richard Peck won a Newbery Honor for the first book, which was quite good. He won the Newbery Medal for this sequel, which was even more impressive. Both books are well-deserving, and I would definitely recommend both of them.

A Year Down Yonder by Richard Peck is available to checkout from the Mission Viejo Library. It is also available to download for free from Libby.

A Long Way from Chicago by Richard Peck

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A Long Way from Chicago, by Richard Peck, is a Newbery Honor award-winning book. Joey and his sister, Mary Alice, are growing up in Chicago during the Great Depression. Every summer, their parents send them to the country to visit their grandmother for a week. This book is a “novel in stories,” because each chapter is about one of the annual trips to visit their grandmother. Over the course of these visits, the children gradually realize that their grandmother is a very unusual person. For example, at one point she uses her shotgun to shoot at a corpse inside a coffin. She also throws cherry bombs at kids, and she uses an illegal fish trap while fishing on a boat that she just stole, just to mention some of her zany behavior. As the years go by, the children develop an increasing level of respect and admiration for their grandmother. They come to recognize that the summers spent with their grandmother will become some of the most unforgettable experiences of their lives.

The structure of this book was new to me, because every chapter is like an entirely different story. However, the book still flowed well. It is very easy to pick up and read, and the action is fast-paced. Also, many of the stories are quite funny. Still, I was not sure what to make of the grandmother. She seems to cause quite a bit of chaos in her small community, and sometimes she lies to get out of trouble. At first, I was not sure about what the main message of this book was supposed to be. However, as I thought about it more, I realized that the charm of this book is based on the love that the grandmother has for Joey and Mary Alice. Their grandmother is very eccentric and mischievous, but she takes good care of her grandchildren and she gives them memories that they will never forget. This book is a short read, but I would recommend it to anyone.

A Long Way from Chicago by Richard Peck is available to check out from the Mission Viejo Library. It is also available to download for free from Libby.

Annie and the Old One by Miska Miles

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Annie and the Old One is a Newbery Honor award-winning book by Miska Miles. Annie is a young Native American girl who is very close to her grandmother. Sometimes, when they are laughing together, Annie’s grandmother seems quite young. Other times, when her grandmother is quiet and still, Annie realizes that her grandmother is very old.

One day, Annie’s grandmother announces that she will “go to Mother Earth” when Annie’s mother finishes work on a new rug. Annie is deeply saddened at the thought of her grandmother passing away, so she decides that she must stop the rug from being completed. She does everything she can to delay her mother’s work on the rug. She even attempts to unweave the rug when her mother is not looking. Annie’s grandmother takes her to a quiet place in the desert, so that she can teach Annie about the meaning of life. Annie learns an important lesson from her wise grandmother that she will never forget.

This book is quite short, but I found it to be very poignant and meaningful. I especially liked the relationship between Annie and her grandmother. Annie’s behavior after learning that her grandmother would die seems understandable. I think most children would react in such a way to the death of a loved one. It was very touching to see how much Annie did not want to lose her grandmother. I was also impressed by the way Annie learned to cope with her feelings, out of respect for her grandmother’s teachings. I believe that this is an excellent book for children or anyone else to read about dealing with family death and finding purpose in life.

Annie and the Old One by Miska Miles is available to check out from the Mission Viejo Library.

The Light at Tern Rock by Julia L Sauer.

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The Light at Tern Rock is a Newbery Honor award-winning book by Julia L Sauer.  A man named Byron Flagg asks an eleven-year-old boy named Ronnie and his aunt, Martha Morse, to take charge of the Tern Rock lighthouse while he is away for two weeks.  The lighthouse is on a small island that is only accessible by boat.  The month is December, so Ronnie is concerned about getting back to the mainland in time for Christmas.  However, Mr. Flagg promises that he will return in time to take Ronnie and Martha home before Christmas day. 

Ronnie and Martha are excited when they first arrive at the lighthouse.  They understand that they have an important responsibility to keep the lighthouse lit to protect the ships at sea.  The living conditions are comfortable, and Ronnie enjoys spending the time with his aunt.  After two weeks, however, there is no sight of Mr. Flagg.  Ronnie becomes worried that Mr. Flagg may have broken his promise.  When Ronnie realizes that he might be stranded at the lighthouse, he becomes very anxious and upset that he may not be able to spend Christmas with his family.

This book is a quick read, being only about sixty pages long, but I still enjoyed it.  I was not expecting it to be so much of a Christmas story.  The Christ-centered focus turned out to be my favorite part of this book.  I appreciate the symbolism used by the author to describe some of the lessons learned by Ronnie.  He learns about the importance of responsibility and about the actual meaning of the Christmas holiday.  I wish that this book were a little bit longer, but I still find it enjoyable to read and deserving of the Newbery Honor.

The Light at Tern Rock by Julia L. Sauer is available to check out from the Mission Viejo Library.