A Year Down Yonder
by Richard Peck

Have you ever wondered how it feels to be torn apart from your family and forced to stay with a grumpy old grandma and sleep in a house that makes creepy noises at night? Well you'll find out when you read A Year Down Yonder by Richard Peck.

In the book a girl named Mary Alice's family goes totally broke after the great depression, and she's forced to stay with her grumpy grandma a long way from home. I'm not going to give away the ending, so you'll have to read the book to find out how Mary Alice survives.

A part I like in the book is when Grandma takes Mary Alice to the Turkey Shoot. Mary Alice is worried that they would be shooting real turkeys, but it turns out that they would be shooting cardboard cut-outs with air guns.

I think the theme of this story is that no matter how far away you are from your family, they are always with you.

Reviewed by Dane 2/04