A Year Down Yonder by Richard Peck

A Year Down Yonder by Richard Peck takes place a few years after the bulk of A Long Way from Chicago ends. Mary Alice is the narrator now, and because of financial difficulties in her family, her parents decide to have her spend a year at Grandma Dowdle's.

She enrolls in the local school, and begins to meet different people she didn't in her summer visits. Some are nice, others not so much. This time she has several adventures from attracting the attention of the local meangirl, to going through a tornado warning. Through each chapter Mary Alice learns more about herself, her grandma, and her neighbors. Including one special classmate who happens to be a boy.