A Long Way from Chicago

Peck, Richard. A long way from Chicago:

a novel in stories. New York: Dial Books

for Young Readers, 1998.

By Richard Peck

Copyright:  1997

Publisher:  Dial Books for Young Readers

Reading level:

• Lexile:  750L

• Grade level:  4

Genre: Historical fiction

Description:  Comedy and humor, Communities, Ways of life, Family relationships

Delivery suggestions:  Independent reading/ small group

Summary:  Joey and his sister, Mary Alice, take annual trips to a small town in Illinois to visit their Grandma every summer beginning in 1929 until 1942.  These trips are far from boring or uneventful, however.  Grandma Dowdel is a lively, gutsy woman who embarks with her grandchildren on out-of-the ordinary adventures.  Each summer, you see Joey and Mary Alice having more shocking experiences than the year before.  Grandma makes sure that these summers will be unforgettable for the two of them.

Author, Richard Peck

Electronic resources:

• Literature Learning:  this website gives author and book connection links, specific book activities, and lesson plan links.

• The Great Depression:  information about these years in history, with a specific timeline of the major events.

Vocabulary:  The Great Depression, drowsing, feeble, galleon, privy, Hupmobile, apt, bewitched, transfixed, cadaver

Teaching suggestions:

• Use this book as an introduction to The Great Depression.
• Use to discuss the idea of point of view in writing.

Comprehension strategies:

• Before Reading:  
• Have a discussion about growing up in the city versus the country.  Ask students to share some differences between rural and suburban areas, getting them to think about the significance of the book's setting.

• During Reading:  
• Students will create a timeline as they read to help strengthen their comprehension of the book.  Since each chapter is divided into different years, they will write a summary for each year as they go and include an illustration to go along with this.

• After Reading:  
• Discuss the significance of the time period being The Great Depression.  Have the students research the different national events that occurred during the years written about in the book.  Help the students to see how these events affected Grandma's small town in Illinois.

Writing activity:

Discuss the fact that Grandma Dowdel is described through the narrator, Joey's point of view and that the reader's feelings about Grandma are shaped upon this.  Ask the students how she might be portrayed differently through someone else's point of view.  Students will choose a different significant character in the book and write a detailed description of Grandma through that person's point of view.  They will compare these different point of views and see if the perception of Grandma Dowdel has been altered or not.