A Season of Gifts - Richard Peck

My editor, Steve Meltzer, and I have similar tastes in books.  When I had lunch with Steve in New York last year he gave me a copy of a new Richard Peck book, A Season of Gifts. I love anything by Richard Peck, and I was delighted to spend time again with his character Grandma Dowdel.

It is 1958. Bob Barnhart is the son of the new preacher in town. Bob's teenage sister, Phyllis, is running wild and his little sister, Ruth Ann, is fascinated by the broken down house next door.  Bob himself is hounded by bullies--but what scares him more is their next door neighbor, Mrs. Dowdel. She's as big as a house and as old as the hills, and she carries a shot gun.

As Bob struggles to fit in, he slowly realizes that in her own unorthodox way, Mrs. Dowdel helps the family and the congregation prosper.

Richard Peck had me rolling in the aisles with his clever tales of Grandma Dowdel on the warpath with the town's black sheep, the Burdicks, and her best friend and nemesis Mrs. Wilcock. Bob wasn't sure what was happening, but he was definitely along for the ride.

I adore this book, and this is one last chance to read about Grandma Dowdel--unless, of course, Peck reincarnates her as a grizzly bear.

Comments

[Mary Ann Dames - Reading, Writing, and Recipes]

Love Richard Peck's writings. I can enjoy them and learn from them.