07.11.07
A Long Way from Chicago… Summer Reading Blog Assignment
In my opinion, Richard Peck is “the king” of writing historical fiction novels for middle school students. He creates the perfect blend of wacky characters and historically correct settings with just enough creativity to make learning more about history fun/interesting.
A Long Way from Chicago is a short novel written by Peck introducing a family he continues to write about in A Year Down Yonder. The book itself depicts what life was like during The Great Depression.
If you’ve chosen to read A Long Way from Chicago for your summer reading assignment, simply use your Summer Reading Blog Directions (summerreadingassignment6th20076.pdf), click on the comments link below and begin writing your very own reading blog. Should you have any questions, email Mrs. Farnum: cpmfarnum@cox.net.
Happy Summer!
August 24, 2007 at 7:19 pm
I chose To read “A Long Way From Chicago” as my summer reading book. “A Long Way From Chicago” was one of the best books I have ever read because it was action filled, hilarious, and scary. It also, after every chapter, left you wondering what was going to happen next. I love this book and I just could not put it down. Some books are so boring that they put you to sleep, but this book was totally different, it actually keeps you awake.
My favorite character in the book was Grandma Dowdel because she was larger than life and was bigger than the town itself. Grandma Dowdel reminds me of my grandma because they both have the laid back in your face attitude. I would definitely recommend this book to my grandma.
If I were going to change this books title I would change it to “The Life Adventures of Grandma Dowdel” because during this book she shares tons of adventures with Mary Alice and Joey, some of her relatives from Chicago.
My favorite line in this outstanding book was, “he couldn’t hit a barn from inside.” I just could not stop laughing after Grandma Dowdel said that.
This book is as close to perfect as you can get, it is well written, very descriptive, and is just an all around good book.
August 25, 2007 at 4:35 pm
“A Long Way from Chicago”, by Richard Peck, had many different subplots and a variety of subjects, but my favorite chapter was called “The Mouse in the Milk.” I really liked this chapter because it created fun images in my mind. The author used very descriptive words in the chapter to help the reader imagine what was going on. For example, I imagined Grandma Dowdel putting the mouse in the milk, rolling the cherry bomb across the floor, and the four Cowgill brothers flying off the porch.
Also, I really liked this chapter because the grandma was very clever. She was smart when she left Grandpa Dowdel’s shotgun as bait for the Cowgill brothers.She knew that they would love to have an antique shotgun. She pretended to be out of town so they would break into her house and steal the shotgun. However, she stayed home, turned off all the lights, and waited until the Cowgills came to take the gun. Grandma Dowdel was always clever throughout the book.
The last reason why I really like this chapter is because the grandma is so peculiar. Richard Peck, the author, probably wanted the readers to think Grandma Dowdel was very different from other grandmas. He most likely did this because he wanted to make the book sound interesting and different. When Grandma bombed the four Cowgill brothers, I thought that was really strange. Also, she took the time to plan how she was going to trap them. Grandma is sneaky in many different ways during the entire chapter.
I had fun reading this book because it made me wonder what was going to happen next. Now I am interested in reading the sequel, “A Year Down Yonder.”
August 25, 2008 at 11:38 pm
Once I finished reading, “A Long Way From Chicago”, it made me feel as though I was involved in the characters’ lives. I didn’t want the book to end and was excited to see that there was a sequel, “A Year Down Yonder.” I really liked Grandma Dowdel as she really isn’t your typical cookie baking, sitting in a rocker, snoozing Grandma.
The first time you realize that Grandma Dowdel is a little different is when she hosts a wake in her home for Shotgun Cheatham. When the gauze covering the deceased starts to move Grandma bellows,” Whoa, Shotgun! You’ve had your time, boy. You don’t get no more!” She grabs a gun and starts shooting all over the room and especially at the coffin. The room clears out and Grandma seems satisfied that Shotgun is really gone. The grandkids notice a cat slinking out of the coffin and realize that summer vacation is not going to be dull.
Every chapter of the book has a little something for everyone, so it would be difficult to change a thing. There is no age barrier in the book, so why should there be in our world. I would recommend this book for people young and old, boy or girl since there are characters for everyone. Each character has an adventure of his or her own, so everybody is satisfied.
If I had to create a new title for the story, I would most likely choose, “The Hilarious Hijinks of Grandma Dowdel”. Everytime I would read another chapter it seemed a little more far-fetched than the one before and I couldn’t wait to see how the situation would be handled Grandma Dowdel-style. All-in-all, the book was an amazing read and I can’t wait to see what kind of trouble Grandma gets herself in next time!!
August 28, 2008 at 8:22 pm
The book I read for my summer reading was “A long Way from Chicago,” by Richard Peck. One thing I loved about this book was that every chapter had a new adventure at Grandma`s house. When I got to some really interesting parts of the book, I felt like I was actually there. In other parts I could relate to the feelings the characters were having and that made me not want the book to end. In my opinion a visit to Grandma Dowdel`s would be fun and interesting. One of the craziest things Grandma Dowdel ever did was in the 1st chapter when she almost thought that Shotgun was alive, (that scared me so bad) but luckily it was just a cat. Also when she took Joey and Mary Alice illegal fishing when they saw the drunk men having a party in their underwear, but those were just some of my favorites because believe me they were all weird.
Since all the weird adventures Grandma Dowdel has, it seems to me this would be a great book for my best friend, Jennifer Welsh. Jennifer likes to do all this crazy, dare devil stuff just like Grandma. Also she isn`t afraid of a challenge, just like Grandma. They also are girls. So I think I`m going to recommend this book to Jennifer.
If I were to change the title of this book I would change it to “A Week of Surprises.” The reason I would choose this title is because when Joey and Mary Alice go to Grandma`s they always have something peculiar to do that week. Also they never know what`s going to happen next. Sometimes Grandma doesn`t even know what will happen next, because she lies and makes up relatives just to prove a point even if those relatives don`t exist.
There were many different funny parts and great quotes in this book. These are two of my favorite quotes, “O.B. Dickerson, the sheriff,” she said, “and them drunk skunks with him is the entire business community of the town.” The reason I picked this one was because when I was reading it, it sounded funny thinking that the sheriff of the town would be drunk and having a party in his underwear. The second quote I liked was, “I cook to eat, not to show off.” Okay there are many reasons I liked that quote, but mainly because I thought it showed grandma`s strength. I was not expecting that at all. This book has many words that were hard for me, so I had to look them up in the dictionary. Out of all the words I looked up, “privy” is the one I remembered the most because it made me laugh.
This book was all around good, but the only part I would change would be that Joey and Mary Alice stayed for longer than a week.
My favorite part of this book would have to be that every chapter had a new adventure. If I had to pick my favorite chapter it would be a 3-way-tie, between Shotgun Cheatham`s Last Night Above Ground, The Mouse in the Milk, and A One-Women Crime Wave. Although they were all very close after I re-read them my favorite was A One –Women Crime wave. The chapter was so funny and nerve-racking that it made me want to keep reading it till the end. Overall it was just so hilarious.
September 3, 2008 at 11:02 pm
As my summer reading assignment, I read A Long Way from Chicago, by Richard Peck. This was one of the best books I have ever read. It has a nice combination of comedy, action, and thrills. Also, every chapter left me curious about what would happen next. Due to its many interesting plot twists, this book kept me on the edge of my seat until the very end. For example, this book is about a city boy who travels to the country to visit his grandma. There was a bobcat there. If the bobcat saw someone it would pounce on them. Another plot twist occurs when a reporter visited grandma to ask about a coffin she left at her home. When the coffin began to move, grandma started shooting it with a shotgun. Finally, the city boy had always wanted to ride in a airplane. So grandma entered a cooking contest where first prize was a airplane trip. Grandma won and Joey fulfilled his wish. As you can see, A Long Way from Chicago is a very exciting read.