If you enjoyed reading Richard Peck's Newbery-award book "A Year Down Yonder" and his Newbery honor book "A Long Way From Chicago" be sure to check out "A Season of Gifts". The year is 1958 and Grandma Dowdel is still a force to be reckoned with. A new family has moved in next door to her and 12-year-old Bob is convinced Mrs. Dowdel's house is haunted. Bob, his older sister Phyllis and his younger sister Ruth Ann are the new kids in town and "P.K's", or preacher's kids. Their dad is a minister, trying to fix up a rundown church and find a congregation. Over the course of an eventful autumn and the Christmas holiday, Bob and his family come to know and love Grandma Dowdel and appreciate her generous, if slightly eccentric, spirit. My favorite part of the story is when Mrs. Dowdel puts 12-year-old Bob behind the wheel of his family's car and they set off to chop down a Christmas tree. It is a ride you won't forget. This is a great book for fifth and sixth graders making the step to Young Adult books and is a wonderful holiday story. You will find yourself chuckling and with tears in your eyes at the bond that forms between this family and their remarkable neighbor. -gw-Check our catalog for this title.
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