From: Dean Schneider <schneiderd>
Date: Tue, 2 Mar 1999 08:28:39 -0600

Just a quick response before my seventh graders get to class! I think A Long Way from Chicago is a distinguished work. It's a great read-aloud; my 12-year-old son is loving it as much as I am. I love the structure as a "novel in stories," each of which can stand by itself, but each also builds on the preceding stories as the novel progresses. Grandma is truly a larger-than-life yet realistic hero, and the novel is written with humor and a simple eloquence. The novel also has a lot to discuss with children about the history of the times. I have no problem with Holes and A Long Way from Chicago as Newbery selections; I just wish afew more books from such a good year could have been honored, books such as Virginia Euwer Wolff's Bat 6, Paul Fleischman's Whirligig, and Jack Gantos's Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key.


Dean Schneider Ensworth School 211 Ensworth Avenue Nashville, TN 37205
Received on Tue 02 Mar 1999 08:28:39 AM CST