SuitabookA Long Way from Chicago
Richard Peck, R. Peck
- Reading
- Read one summer episode at a time, pausing to discuss how its humour changes the effect of difficult events. Help with period vocabulary, and revisit how Joey and Mary Alice’s understanding develops.
- Themes
- Generosity through unconventional action: The book addresses generosity through unconventional action; the detail of how it is developed remains unclear. The book appears to invite discussion of whether a generous purpose changes how readers judge dishonest or unlawful methods.
- Family understanding across time: Joey and Mary Alice visit Grandma over seven summers and gradually move from wariness towards understanding and affection. The book presents this favourably.
- Comedy alongside hardship: The story is set during the Great Depression and includes hunger, poverty-era references, a corpse and family conflict within comic episodes. Comedy appears to make difficult circumstances approachable, while some episodes retain disturbing or serious elements.
- Worth knowing
- Some episodes involve a corpse and a grisly sight, homemade explosives and property damage, trespassing, poaching, theft-like behaviour and a teenager seeking refuge from a cruel, controlling mother.