A Long Way from Chicago- Required Read

A Long Way from Chicago is a humorous story that takes place during the Great Depression. Much to their dismay, Joey and Mary Alice are sent to visit their grandmother in her small town. They are from Chicago and fear that they will spend the summer being bored out of their minds. Much to their surprise, the summer is not at all what they expected. Grandma Dowdel is far from boring. They experience things that they never thought possible over the many summers that they spend at Grandma Dowdel's. Each year, they complain about having to go back. Grandma Dowdel puts them to work and they want to spend the summers at home with their friends. Despite these arguments, they still find themselves back at her house. The book tells of their summer adventures until Joey and Mary Alice are getting older and no longer go back to Grandma Dowdel's. Joey decides that he wants to enlist in World War 2. He writes to Grandma Dowdel to tell her that his train will be passing by her house sometime in the night as he is shipping out. He has not seen her in some time and she does not respond. When the train goes by, Joey sees her standing in the doorway waving. They never seemed to be that close, but it was obvious she cared for him all the same. I thought that this was a hilarious book. Some of the things that Grandma Dowdel said and did reminded me a lot of my crazy grandmother. Although, I am very close to her, unlike Joey and Mary Alice were to Grandma Dowdel. This was a very cute story that shows the love that family members have for one another. Although Grandma Dowdel was never the most compassionate person, it was obvious that she cared for her grandchildren and enjoyed the time that they were there to keep her company.