This year’s Newbery Honor book is a collection of stories about a very different kind of grandmother. Each August from 1929 through 1935, Joey and Mary Alice leave Chicago to spend a week with Grandma Dowdel in rural Illinois. The life and people there, especially Grandma, are very different from anything or anyone the children encounter in the big city. In seven funny stories, one for each summer, Grandma comes across as a tall-tale hero, surprising Joey and Mary Alice with her antics.