Peck, Richard. (2002). A Year Down Yonder. New York: Puffin. 144pp.

Grade Range: 6-9

Genre: historical fiction

Summary and Critique

Richard Peck's A Year Down Yonder brings to life a small "hick" town that has become the temporary home of Mary Alice Dowdel, a fifteen-year-old girl from Chicago. Mary Alice is sent to live with her grandmother when the situation becomes too difficult for her parents during the Great Depression. Mary Alice bravely faces the rural lifestyle, separation from her parents and brother, and the no-nonsense style of her Grandma Dowdel. Grandma Dowdel is fur trapper by trade, which is a natural calling for a woman much more sly than any fox. Relations are uneasy at first between Mary Alice and her grandmother, but eventually the young girl discovers the benevolent heart underneath Grandma Dowdel's gruff exterior. The novel is laced with hilarious escapades and bits of wisdom gleaned from Grandma Dowdel's logic and years of experience. Mary Alice is an intelligent girl who understands the social dynamics of small town life and uses her wits to make the best of her situation.

Readers of all ages will enjoy A Year Down Yonder. It presents questions in ethics, survival in hard times, the effects of war, and social issues in high school as well as the community.

Awards

2001 Newberry Award Winner

ALA Notable Book

ALA Best Books for Young Adults

Themes/Topics

Families

Generations

Race, Ethnicity, and Culture

Friends and Enemies

Author Information

Richard Peck, who grew up in Decatur, Illinois, has written more than 25 novels. In many of his stories, he returns to the Midwest, such as in A Long Way from Chicago and A Year Down Yonder both of which were awarded Newberry Awards. He also has edited several collections of poetry for young adults as well as written and edited articles, short stories, and essay collections. Peck has also won the Margaret A. Edwards Award for lifetime achievement in young adult literature.

For more information on Richard Peck:

http://www.carolhurst.com/authors/rpeck.html Biography and annotated bibliography.

http://www.carr.org/mae/peck/peck.htm Biography, bibliography, and related links.

Media Connections

Movies

Riding the Rails (2003) An account of the 250,000 homeless teenagers traveling across the country via railroad during the Great Depression.

To Kill a Mockingbird (1962) A lawyer, Atticus Finch, defends an African American man accused of raping a Caucasian woman.

The Sandlot (1993) When his stepfather is too busy to teach Scotty to play baseball, the neighborhood boys help out.

Anne of Green Gables (1985) A spirited orphan girl moves in with a foster family, where her sense of adventure of lust for life results in many interesting experiences.

Brother, Can You Spare a Dime? (1975) This documentary explores life during the Depression using Hollywood films and newsreel footage but no narration.

The Color of Friendship (2000) TV movie. A Caucasian South African girl becomes an exchange student, and lives with an African American family in Washington D.C.

Television

The Simpsons (FOX)"Lord of the Dance" episode. Envy rages in Lisa when a sophisticated new student organizes a dance at Springfield Elementary.

Music

Oh Brother Where Art Thou? Soundtrack. Lost Highway Records, 2001. Old fashioned"country" music in the 1930's style.

Online Resources

http://newdeal.feri.org An educational guide to the Great Depression of the 1930's sponsored by the Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Institute and the Institute for Learning Technologies at Teacher College/Columbia University.

http://www.randomhouse.com Teachers@random features teaching tools, curriculum driven guides, author biographies and audio interviews, thematic, interdisciplinary, grade and award indexes.

http://www.carolhurst.com. Children's literature site includes reviews of great books for kids, ideas of ways to use them in the classroom, and collections of books and activities about particular subjects, curriculum areas, themes and professional topics.

http://www.drought.unl.edu/whatis/dustbowl.htm Information about the drought of the 1930s.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/dustbowl/ Official site of The American Experience: Surviving the Dust Bowl information, activities and plans.

Related Texts

Peck, Richard. (1999). A Long Way From Chicago. New York; Penguin Putnam. The prequel to A Year Down Yonder. Every summer, siblings Joey and Mary Alice spend a week with their eccentric grandmother in Wabash, Illinois.

Horvath, Polly. (2001). Everything on A Waffle. New York: Farrar, Strauss, and Giroux, 160pp. A folksy tale about small town life as seen through the eyes of eleven-year-old Primrose Squarp.

Brown, Elizabeth Ferguson. (2000). A Coal County Christmas. New York: Simon and Schuster. A girl describes the warm memories and hard way of life that she recalls when she and her mother go to spend Christmas at her grandmother's house in Pennsylvania's coal country.

Lee, Harper. (1960). To Kill a Mockingbird. New York: HarperCollins. 323pp. A lawyer, Atticus Finch, defends an African American man accused of raping a Caucasian woman..

Nishi, Dennis. (1998). Life During the Great Depression. San Diego: Lucent. 96pp. Nishi focuses on ordinary people and how the Great Depression affected their lives.

Stein, R. Conrad. (1994). The Great Depression. New York: Scholastic. 32pp. A general overview of the Great Depression.

Grimes, Janice Brown. (1998). A Different World: Almena, Kansas 1930-1939. Whitestone, VA: Brandylane. 316pp. Explores life in a small town in Kansas during the Dust Bowl.

Montgomery, Lucy Maud. (1908). Anne of Green Gables. Boston: L.C. Page and Co. An orphan is sent to a surly farm and proves her worth.

Teaching Ideas

(1)"Proverbs and Book Reports" Distribute a list of proverbs to the class and discuss what they mean. Students select two or three proverbs that fit their characters'decisions during the course of the work. At major turning points, did the character follow or ignore the proverb? Why? With what result?

The list below should provide some matches to the characters in a Year Down Yonder and many other stories.

The more you have, the more you want.

Where there's a will, there's a way.

Opportunity seldom knocks twice.

Misfortunes never come singly.

Look before you leap.

The leopard can't change his spots.

All that glitters is not gold.

While the cat's away, the mice will play.

Don't put all your eggs in one basket.

If there were no clouds, we should not enjoy the sun.

The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence.

Only the wearer knows where the shoe pinches.

You've made your bed; now lie in it.

It's no use crying over spilt milk.

The early bird catches the worm.

A stitch in time saves nine.

[Summarized/adapted from "The Proverbial Book Report" by Donna Jean Bisbee in Ideas Plus Book 11. Urbana, IL: National Council of Teachers of English, pp. 28-29.]

(2) "Inanimate Romance" In February, while we are celebrating other aspects of Valentine's Day, the students have an option of writing a romantic short story. Knowing that many may feel uncomfortable writing about romance between human characters, I suggest that they choose as characters inanimate objects that would normally be found together. Perhaps they might incorporate shoes and shoelaces, chips and dip, hot dogs and ketchup.

Using a less personal subject frees students to pursue the writing enthusiastically. Students brainstorm for details, work on creating a realistic setting, and even capitalize on the humor inherent in the assignment. They are also concerned with developing character and personality in their objects. Many students do"research" on their main characters in an attempt to make them real to the audience. The romantic short story quickly becomes a popular project–not only for the writers, but for the audience of the finished products as well.

I see a great opportunity to incorporate this with the Valentine's Day episode in A Year Down Yonder.

[Summarized/adapted from "Romantic Short Stories" by Debra R. Harding in Ideas Plus Book 11. Urbana, IL: National Council of Teachers of English, p. 43.]

(3) "Casting Agent" While reading the novel, students should imagine that they are movie directors who will be casting actors to play the major characters from the novel and who must interpret the way in which the script will be acted and filmed. Students will present these ideas to the class in a talk lasting five to seven minutes. Their presentations must include the following two activities:

1. Analyze the major characters based on their looks and their personalities; then cast real actors to play these roles. You may base your decision on actor's looks and mannerisms, previous roles that he or she played, or both. You are to explain your decision to the class with an emphasis on why you chose these actors for these roles. The discussion must reflect your knowledge of the main characters'personality and looks.

2. Make a poster to reflect the three to five most important scenes from the novel. You may either illustrate the poster or cut the pictures out of a magazine. Explain why these scenes are the most important from the novel by explaining the important aspects of the plot as they relate to the scenes.

The presentation will be assessed by students'knowledge of the characters and why they chose those actors to play these roles; the scenes they chose and why those are important scenes from the novel.

They should think about: Eye contact

Body movement

Voice projection

Expression

[Summarized/adapted from "A Novel Approach to Movies" by Mary Lee McCoy in Ideas Plus Book 11. Urbana, IL: National Council of Teachers of English, p. 43.]

(Review written by Susan Montana and edited by Jennifer E. Moore)