A Year Down Yonder by Richard Peck chronicles the journey of 15-year-old Mary Alice who must go live with her Grandma Dowdel in rural Illinois. Grandma is a lively character with many eccentricities that Mary Alice comes to love and adore. They experience ups and downs but Mary Alice realizes that her Grandma Dowdel has a heart of gold and cares for her deeply. A stark contrast from when she arrived, Mary Alice is reluctant to leave her grandma and becomes pen pals with a classmate named Royce McNabb, whom she marries years later.
