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Mary Alice's childhood summers in Grandma Dowdel's sleepy Illinois town were packed with enough drama to fill the double bill of any picture show. But now she is fifteen, and faces a whole long year with Grandma, a woman well known for shaking up her neighbors-and everyone else! All Mary... read more

Summary edit see section history

Mary Alice's summer is spent with her Grandma Dowdel. Her parents are now working as housekeepers and her brother is planting trees in the west. Her stay with her grandmother is filled with many surprises. Including going to a new school, a tornado, and a snake. Through the year, Mary Alice,... read more (warning: may contain spoilers)

Mary Alice's summer is spent with her Grandma Dowdel. Her parents are now working as housekeepers and her brother is planting trees in the west. Her stay with her grandmother is filled with many surprises. Including going to a new school, a tornado, and a snake. Through the year, Mary Alice, 15, starts to recognize how much she likes her grandma. She ends up starting to act like her grandmother. So many twists and turns in the story you never would have imagined.

Characters/People edit see section history

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Quotes edit see section history

  • “I just sat there without a sigh left in me. But I was past bawling now as Grandma began to edge out of her chair. 'How about some supper? My stomach's flapping against my backbone,' she said. 'If I don't eat, I get cranky.'And heaven knows, we couldn't have that.”
    Mary Alice
  • Popular Highlights from Kindle Customers
  • Ashes to ashes, Dust to dust, Oil them brains Before they rust.
    Highlighted by 6 Kindle customers
  • She said cats were natural hunters and Bootsie could find her own meals. Cats are like the Burdicks, she said. They’d eat anything they could bite.
    Highlighted by 3 Kindle customers
  • two-faced, two-fisted shortchanger, flimflam artist, and full-time extortionist anybody ever saw
    Highlighted by 3 Kindle customers
  • We might have been any grandma and her granddaughter, out for an evening stroll.
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  • As much punkin as cream, Burnt sugar in a stream, Three big eggs, all beat up, And good corn syrup, ’bout half a cup.
    Highlighted by 3 Kindle customers

Organizations edit see section history

  • Works Progress Administration: A government program during the Great Depression intended to stimulate the economy by employing artists and other people.

First Sentence edit see section history

"It was a September morning, hazy with late summer, and now with all the years between."

Table of Contents edit see section history

1. Prologue
2. Rich Chicago Girl
3. Vittles and Vengeance
4. A Minute in the Morning
5. Away in a Manger
6. Hearts and Flour
7. A Dangerous Man
8. Gone with the Wind
9. Ever After

Themes & Symbolism edit see section history

  • Toughness showing Love: Grandma isn't a lovey dovey woman yet loves immensely. You can see this through her actions as it is rarely explicitly stated. She teaches with a firm hand and a big heart (that she often tries to hide).

Series & Lists edit see section history

This is book 2 of 3 in Living in Chicago. (standard series)

Preceded by A Long Way from Chicago, and followed by A Season of Gifts.

This book is in Newbery Medal. (authoritative list)

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

  1. Richard Peck (Author)

First Edition edit see section history

Original Language: English
Publisher: Dial Books for Young Readers
Country: USA
Publication Date: 2000
ISBN: 0803725183
Page Count: 130

More Books Like This edit see section history

   
  • A Year Down Yonder
  • A Long Way from Chicago

Books with Additional Background Information edit see section history

   
  • A Long Way from Chicago

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