Saturday, December 31, 2011

A Season of Gifts

A Season of GiftsA Season of Gifts by Richard Peck

AR Reading Level: 4.6
On the library stacks: Children's Fiction
Awards: Smithsonian's Notable Book; Publishers Weekly Best Book
Series: Book 3 of 3 (Grandma Dowdel)

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

It is the summer of 1958 and Bob Barnhart has just moved with his family to a rural town in Illinois. Twelve-year old Bob is immediately bullied by the gang in town, resulting in him meeting his eccentric neighbor, Grandma Dowdel, who is an ornery 90-something.

Once school starts, Grandma Dowdel becomes a part of Bob's life, either helping him and his family out of scrapes, or getting them into them. Through her cunning, Bob's dad is able to attract a congregation, she gets Bob's older sister away from the town bad boy, and secure some large beautiful (and free!) Christmas trees.

This book was somewhat reminiscent of the funnier works of Gary Paulsen. I think this book is geared more towards boys than the companion novels, as evidenced by the humor. But I did love how the book wrapped up with the Christmas season, including some heartwarming life lessons.

Also reviewed by: Book Nut ~ Becky's Book Reviews ~ BermudaOnion's Weblog ~ Your link here?
Source: Library Audiobook

1 comment:

bermudaonion said...

I read this a few years ago and enjoyed it, but didn't love it.