A Season of Gifts [Hardcover]

Richard Peck (Author)

Book Description

Release date: September 17, 2009 | Age Range: 10 and up | Lexile Measure: 690L (What's this?)

The return of one of children's literature's most memorable characters is a gift indeed.

The eccentric, forceful, big-hearted Grandma Dowdel is the star of the Newbery Medal?winning A Year Down Yonder and Newbery Honor?winning A Long Way from Chicago. And it turns out that her story isn?t over?not even close.

It is now 1958, and a new family has moved in next door to Mrs. Dowdel: a Methodist minister and his wife and kids. Soon Mrs. Dowdel will work her particular brand of charm?or medicine, depending on who you?re asking?on all of them: ten-yearold Bob, who is shy on courage in a town full of bullies; his two fascinating sisters; and even Bob?s two parents, who are amazed to discover that the last house in town might also be the most vital.

As Christmas rolls around, the Barnhart family realizes that they?ve found a true home?and a neighbor who gives gifts that will last a lifetime.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Starred Review. Grade 5–8—It's been a long while since readers last enjoyed a season with Grandma Dowdel, and what a startling, hilarious, and touching season it is. It is now 1958, a time when Elvis is king and the glow of television sets has replaced sitting on the porch for an evening. Yet as much as things have changed, Mrs. Dowdel has remained pretty much the same, living alone in the last house in town, pushing 90 and still toting her rifle, cooking up a storm and taking down the neighborhood hoodlums. What's new are the PKs (preacher's kids) who've moved in next door, including the 12-year-old narrator, Bob Barnhardt, an unassertive boy who has the misfortune of being welcomed to town in a most unneighborly fashion. Mrs. Dowdel intervenes and helps out the Barnhardts in her own inimitable way, proving herself as clever, capable, and downright amazing as ever and allowing Bob and his family to see just what a gift of a neighbor she is. With a storyteller's sure tone, Peck has once again created a whole world in one small Illinois town, a place where the folksy wisdom and generosity of one gruff old woman can change lives.—Teri Markson, Los Angeles Public Library END

Review

"...one of Peck's best novels yet - and that's saying something." --Kirkus, starred review

"Irascible, independent, and unorthodox as ever, Grandma Dowdel makes a welcome return...she's entered that rare pantheon of unforgettably great characters." --Horn Book

"Peck has once again created a whole world in one small Illinois town, a place where the folksy wisdom and generosity of one gruff old woman can change lives." --School Library Journal

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Age Range: 10 and up
  
• Hardcover: 176 pages
• Publisher: Dial; First Edition edition (September 17, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0803730829
• ISBN-13: 978-0803730823
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (44 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #333,867 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Richard Peck has written over twenty novels, and in the process has become one of America's most highly respected writers for young adults. A versatile writer, he is beloved by middle graders as well as young adults for his mysteries and coming-of-age novels. He now lives in New York City. In addition to writing, he spends a great deal of time traveling around the country attending speaking engagements at conferences, schools and libraries...Mr. Peck has won a number of major awards for the body of his work, including the Margaret A. Edwards Award from School Library Journal, the National Council of Teachers of English/ALAN Award, and the 1991 Medallion from the University of Southern Mississippi. Virtually every publication and association in the field of children s literature has recommended his books, including Mystery Writers of America which twice gave him their Edgar Allan Poe Award. Dial Books for Young Readers is honored to welcome Richard Peck to its list with Lost in Cyberspace and its sequel The Great Interactive Dream Machine...

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars She's Back! October 3, 2009

By Reader

Format:Hardcover

Grandma Dowdel is back, and she is as fearless and crafty as ever. Richard Peck manages to convey a child's point of view while fully realizing the adult characters. The figures of speech that come from his characters' mouths add to the humor. Peck's books are always finely tuned, and this is no exception. The setting, southern Illinois in 1958, is clearly drawn. From the first line, "You could see from here the house was haunted," to the last, this slim volume will leave you wanting more. My only fear is that Grandma Dowdel is twenty years older than when we last saw her, and I want her to go on forever.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Talk about great writing... October 31, 2009

By The Children's Book Reporter

Format:Hardcover

Mrs. Dowdel (of A Year Down Yonder and A Long Way from Chicago fame) is back, seen this time from the viewpoint of a preacher's son who has just moved into the house next door. As he and his family try to adjust and survive, they receive more than a little help from their crafty, indomitable next-door neighbor...though all given in her own, unique way.
Richard Peck's writing in A Season of Gifts is as wonderful as ever...if not more so. Every sentence is perfectly crafted, and there are some so perfect, so unique, that they left me gaping. He writes a town you can see and smell and people you could touch (or maybe smack or maybe hug!). The plot is not his strongest...but with writing this crazy good, who cares?
On second thought...we do. Because with this kind of character development, this remarkable crafting, this extraordinary pacing--imagine what a plot with more depth would do. Quite honestly, it would take this from one of the best children's books written this year to one of the best children's books written ever.
And if you're looking for a great Christmas gift for someone with good taste in books...you found it.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Richie's Picks: A SEASON OF GIFTS October 8, 2009

By Richie Partington VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

"Then the privy door banged open.
"Filling the doorway and then some was Mrs. Dowdel. A copy of the Farm Journal and three corncobs were in one of her fists. I hadn't seen her up close. I'd never wanted to be anywhere near this close to her. Her specs crept to the end of her nose. We were nose to nose.
"She didn't welcome surprises, and I came as one. All she'd wanted to do was use her privy, and here I was barring her way, naked a jaybird in my own personal web."

Tied up tight in Grandma Dowdel's privy is eleven-year-old Bob Barnhart. Bob is a combination of preacher's son, new kid in town, and walking target for the town bullies. (I immediately surmised -- correctly -- that there is a new crop of Burdicks and a son of Augie Fluke's amongst this generation's crew of ruffians.)

Bob's dad has gained the first pulpit "all his own," and he and Bob's mom have moved Bob and his two sisters into the next-to-last house on the street -- the street on which the last house is still occupied -- here in 1958 -- by Grandma Dowdel.

"'But as the saying goes, if you can't get justice,' Mrs. Dowdel remarked, 'get even.'"

After taking a taste of A SEASON OF GIFTS to be reassured that it was the real deal, I decided that there was time enough to permit the luxury of going back and rereading A LONG WAY FROM CHICAGO and A YEAR DOWN YONDER before digging in and savoring this next chapter in the world of Grandma Dowdel. It's coming up on a decade since I'd read the stories told by her grandchildren Joey and Mary Alice, and those first two award-winning books are, still and again, an absolute pleasure and a joy to read.

"'Hoo-boy,' Ruth Ann whispered. 'That's the oldest-looking woman I ever saw.'
"Mrs. Dowdel nodded.... 'She was only about three years behind me in school.'"

A quarter-century after we last laid eyes on her, Grandma Dowdel is no less of a force to reckon with -- particularly if you are a troublemaker, cheapskate, or a fraud.

To some extent, A SEASON OF GIFTS is reminiscent of one of those specials they put together a decade or so after some long-running and beloved television series finally goes off the air. This is somewhat ironic because if there is a subtle-but-important issue hinted at in this book, it is the isolating effect that the dawning age of television is already beginning to have upon many families in Grandma Dowdel's rural community.

Nevertheless, so many of the characters and so much of the mischief that we came to know and love -- thanks to LONG WAY and YEAR DOWN YONDER -- are still alive and well in 1958. To experience them all once again is certainly a reason to rejoice. Read more ›

12 of 16 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Much less colorful than the first two September 18, 2009

By J. Huang

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

Grandma Dowdel is still the same formidable figure we saw in the first two books, but we view her through the eyes of a neighboring boy who doesn't spend nearly as much time, or get nearly as involved, with her adventures as Joey and Mary Alice did. Where once we might have had Joey or Mary Alice report to the reader Grandma's exact reaction to hearing the price of a Christmas tree, we're stuck in this book with, "Mrs. Dowdel had a lot to say, reportedly."

Nor do the adventures themselves pack the same punch that they had before. Aside from the problem of being filtered through secondhand reports, they don't build up to the same sort of climax or punchline as they did before. I think this is because we don't get as many hints about Grandma Dowdel's plots as we did before. Instead, we hear a lot more about how she's busy baking all the time or she's constantly working the garden.

I am also disappointed by the main character. One of the things that made "A Year Down Yonder" great was that Mary Alice started displaying the same backbone and cunning that Grandma Dowdel had. Here, the main character either just takes orders from Grandma Dowdel or observes what's going on. He doesn't display much character depth or growth aside from eventually realizing that Grandma Dowdel is actually a good person. His own colorlessness is what most marred the book for me.

Overall, "A Season of Gifts" is not a bad book, but it isn't an especially good one. I hope we see more of Grandma Dowdel in the next book than we did in this one.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Another Newbery Winner???? October 7, 2009

By Cindy

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

I didn't think it could be done, but the return of Mrs.Dowdel and the related cast of characters from A YEAR DOWN YONDER kept me turning page after page, hungry for more. Introducing the new neighbors and using a holiday setting to conclude the tale were brilliant. Hopefully, Mrs. Dowdel will live on in future great books.