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Richard Peck (1934–2018)

Author of A Long Way from Chicago

58+ Works 22,561 Members 601 Reviews 22 Favorited

About the Author

Richard Peck was born in Decatur, Illinois on April 5, 1934. He received a bachelor's degree in English literature from DePauw University in 1956. After graduation, he served two years in the U.S. Army in Germany, where he worked as a chaplain's assistant writing sermons and completing paperwork. show more He received a master's degree in English from Southern Illinois University in 1959. He taught high school English in Illinois and New York City. He stopped teaching in 1971 to write a novel. His first book, Don't Look and It Won't Hurt, was published in 1972 and was adapted as the 1992 film Gas Food Lodging. He wrote more than 40 books for both adults and young adults including Amanda/Miranda, Those Summer Girls I Never Met, The River Between Us, A Long Way from Chicago, A Season of Gifts, The Teacher's Funeral, Fair Weather, Here Lies the Librarian, On the Wings of Heroes, and The Best Man. A Year down Yonder won the Newbery Medal in 2001 and Are You in the House Alone? won an Edgar Award. The Ghost Belonged to Me was adapted into the film Child of Glass. He received the MAE Award in 1990 and the National Humanities Medal in 2002. He died following a long battle with cancer on May 23, 2018 at the age of 84. (Bowker Author Biography) show less

Series

Works by Richard Peck

A Long Way from Chicago (1998) 4,867 copies
A Year Down Yonder (2000) 4,438 copies
The River Between Us (2003) 1,532 copies
Here Lies the Librarian (2006) 1,405 copies
Fair Weather (1986) 1,154 copies
A Season of Gifts (2009) 771 copies
On The Wings of Heroes (2007) 625 copies
Ghosts I Have Been (1977) 507 copies
The Ghost Belonged to Me (1975) 449 copies
Secrets at Sea (2011) 442 copies
The Best Man (2016) 380 copies
Are You in the House Alone? (1976) 328 copies
Voices after Midnight (1989) 274 copies
Amanda / Miranda (1980) 251 copies
Remembering the Good Times (1985) 176 copies
Secrets of the Shopping Mall (1979) 173 copies
Past Perfect, Present Tense (2004) 154 copies
The Last Safe Place on Earth (1933) 148 copies
Strays Like Us (2000) 146 copies
London Holiday (1998) 130 copies
Three Quarters Dead (2010) 117 copies
Through a Brief Darkness (1924) 114 copies
Don't Look and It Won't Hurt (1972) 102 copies
Edge of Awareness (1966) — Editor — 102 copies
Father Figure (1678) 94 copies
Lost in Cyberspace (1995) 93 copies
Dreamland Lake (1973) 90 copies
Princess Ashley (1987) 70 copies
Representing Super Doll (1974) 52 copies
Close Enough to Touch (1981) 48 copies
Anonymously Yours (1786) 35 copies
This Family of Women (1983) 23 copies
Love and Death at the Mall (1994) 16 copies
New York time (1981) 13 copies

Associated Works

Guys Write for Guys Read (2005) — Contributor — 764 copies
Our White House: Looking In, Looking Out (2008) — Contributor — 342 copies
Night Terrors: Stories of Shadow and Substance (1996) — Contributor — 104 copies
Who Do You Think You Are?: Stories of Friends and Enemies (1993) — Contributor — 94 copies
Best Shorts: Favorite Stories for Sharing (2006) — Contributor — 90 copies
Destination Unexpected: Short Stories (2003) — Contributor — 77 copies
Visions: 19 Short Stories (1987) — Contributor — 72 copies
Acting Out (2008) — Contributor — 66 copies

Tagged

adventure (101) chapter book (185) Chicago (111) children (113) children's (285) children's fiction (78) children's literature (147) Civil War (148) country life (112) family (269) fantasy (138) fiction (1,301) friendship (76) funny (72) ghosts (75) grandmothers (123) Great Depression (263) historical (143) historical fiction (1,317) history (105) humor (406) Illinois (221) Indiana (94) juvenile (142) juvenile fiction (149) middle grade (97) mystery (85) Newbery (197) Newbery Honor (167) Newbery Medal (198) non-fiction (72) novel (72) read (112) realistic fiction (175) school (84) short stories (218) to-read (360) YA (410) young adult (469) young adult fiction (113)

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Reviews

 
Flagged
ASSG.Library | 15 other reviews | Mar 15, 2024 |
I really enjoyed this, even though I hadn't read the first one. The relationship between grandmother and granddaughter is understated but very tender and the comic moments are a lot of fun. a warning to animal lovers, there is one chapter regarding foxes that you might want to skip altogether. It is a country/farm based story and rather matter of fact about things that would upset people
 
Flagged
cspiwak | 101 other reviews | Mar 6, 2024 |
An absorbing tale of a poor family living in southern Illinois at the start of the US Civil War. I was so drawn into the story and characters that I read on, late into the night. Another excellent work by this author.
 
Flagged
fuzzi | 52 other reviews | Jan 14, 2024 |
I LOVE THIS BOOK. It's hard for me to even write a review of this book I loved it so much. So I guess I will just list things I loved about it.

-I loved Archer's voice.

-I loved the plot structure, bookended by weddings, and told as if Archer is talking to the reader, guiding the reader through his 1st grade year to his 6th grade year.

-I loved Archer's family: his cook/mechanic dad, his psychologist mom, his architect grandpa, his Uncle Paul. Even his irritating sister Holly and his witchy grandma.

-I loved that the book is realistic and not. Events are believable, but things like Lynette's overly mature outlook and the character of Little Lord Hilary are larger than life. See also: how often Archer's school makes headlines and Ms. Roebuck's computer incompetence. Stylistically, this enhances the feeling that Archer is trying to tell the reader a good story and perhaps fudging a bit to make it better, which accounts for things not being entirely believable.

-I love, love, loved Mr. McLeod (I had to Google how to pronounce that name - it's "McCloud"). I've complained in the past about too many children's books relying on the magic teacher trope - you know, like Robin Williams in Dead Poets Society. But Mr. McLeod, in my opinion, isn't a magic teacher stereotype. Sure, he's young and exciting, but there's way more to him than just being a great teacher.

-I love how funny and joyful this book is. Especially in 2016, which I dubbed the Year of Sad after reading offerings by some of kidlit's most prominent authors (see my review of [b:Maybe a Fox|25785754|Maybe a Fox|Kathi Appelt|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1435872440s/25785754.jpg|45636443]).

I sincerely hope this will be one of our Mock Newbery books this year. Last year we got a little bit of resistance with [b:The Thing About Jellyfish|24396876|The Thing About Jellyfish|Ali Benjamin|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1439121354s/24396876.jpg|43981451] because there was a relatively minor gay character. Being that most of our Mock Newbery participants are in 5th grade and this book is pretty squarely about 5th/6th graders, I feel confident we can put it on the ballot if the rest of the committee agrees that it's really high quality literature for kids.

And, you know, if it won the real Newbery, I wouldn't be upset.
… (more)
 
Flagged
LibrarianDest | 29 other reviews | Jan 3, 2024 |

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Statistics

Works
58
Also by
20
Members
22,561
Popularity
#941
Rating
3.9
Reviews
601
ISBNs
493
Languages
12
Favorited
22

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