《A Year Down Yonder》

The Christmas Program

“Grandma, it’s the program tonight. ”

Waving away her own forgetfulness, she said, “Well, then, you better wear this. She produced something from a big apron pocket. It looked like a coil of baling wire.

She handed it over. It was a coil of baling wire. Twisted in it were tiny tin stars, cut from cans. A day’s work to make. Grandma stood back, her hands clasped, a little eagerness in her eyes. “Watch out them stars don’t dig your scalp. ”

She’d made me a halo so Carleen Lovejoy in all her tinsel wouldn’t outshine me. It looked more like a crown of thorns, but I handled it, carefully.

I’d have come dangerously near to kissing Grandma then, if she’d let me.

♦“A winning sequel [that is] original and wildly funny.... Year-round fun.”— Kirkus Reviews, pointer review

“Never loses its charming sense of humor even though the vignettes ultimately deal with important issues such as class, gossip, and friendship.”— VOYA

“Peck shows his brilliance.... A Year Down Yonder makes you laugh out loud.”— Children’s Literature

Also by Richard Peck

Don’t Look and It Won’t Hurt
Dreamland Lake
Through a Brief Darkness
Representing Super Doll
The Ghost Belonged to Me
Are You in the House Alone?
Ghosts I Have Been
Father Figure
Secrets of the Shopping Mall
Close Enough to Touch
The Dreadful Future of Blossom Culp
Remembering the Good Times
Blossom Culp and the Sleep of Death
Princess Ashley
Those Summer Girls I Never Met
Voices After Midnight
Unfinished Portrait of Jessica
Bel-Air Bambi and the Mall Rats
The Last Safe Place on Earth
Lost in Cyberspace
The Great Interactive Dream Machine
Strays Like Us
A Long Way from Chicago
Amanda/Miranda

OTHER PUFFIN BOOKS YOU MAY ENJOY

Airfield Jeanette Ingold
A Long Way from Chicago Richard Peck
Amanda/ Miranda Richard Peck
Love Among the Walnuts Jean Ferris
Pictures, 1918 Jeanette Ingold
The Secret Life of Amanda K. Woods Ann Cameron
Strays Like Us Richard Peck