Introduction
Every summer from 1929-1935, in A Long Way from Chicago, Joey Dowdel and his younger sister, Mary Alice, are sent to spend a week with their grandmother in her small Illinois town located halfway between Chicago and St. Louis. Not even the big city crimes of Chicago offer as much excitement as Grandma Dowdel when she outwits the banker, sets illegal fish traps, catches the town's poker playing business men in their underwear, and saves the town from the terror of the Cowgill boys. Now an old man, Joe Dowdel remembers these seven summers and the "larger than life" woman who out-smarted the law and used blackmail to help those in need.

Richard Peck has written over twenty books including: Strays Like Us, The Great Interactive Dream Machine, Lost in Cyberspace, Father Figure, The Ghost Belonged to Me , Ghost I Have Been, Blossom Culp and the Sleep of Death, The Last Safe Place on Earth, and Voices After Midnight. Read about this author: Author Information

Assignment
As you are reading the book, A Long Way from Chicago by Richard Peck, answer the following blog questions. Also, respond to the answers and comments of your fellow bloggers.

Question 1
Where do Joey and Mary Alice go for the summer? Why?

Question 2
Is it true that Grandma Dowdel doesn't give two hoots about the town? Why or why not?

Question 3
Who won the blue ribbon for the best Gooseberry pie? Explain.

Question 4
Who is the "One Woman Crime Wave." Why is she described that way?

Question 5
How do Joey and Mary Alice change during The Day of Judgement? What do they believe at the beginning of the chapter? What do they believe by the end?

Question 6
List all the things (activities, money, tools, etc.) that were different in the 1930's from today. Then make a list of all the things that are the same.

Question 7
When do you think Joe stops thinking of Grandma Dowdel as a bad influence? Why? Does Mary Alice have different ideas about Grandma Dowdel? Why?