“A Long Way from Chicago” is a children’s historical fiction written by Richard Peck. In the story, Joey and his younger sister Mary rides the train and arrives at Grandma's house on their own. At grandma's house, many incidents happen. First, Joey and his sister see a mouse in a bottle of milk. Grandma, Joey, and Mary decides to take part in a pie contest. Unfortunately, they did not win. But Grandma lies that she is the winner so that Joey can have an experience of flying an airplane. Grandma is so protective that she protects a girl from her irresponsible mother. The story is about family and maturity.
There are times when a person’s appearance isn’t always what it seems. The children’s grandma is an eccentric woman. She pours milk while having a mouse in the bottle and she went fishing in a place where fishing is not allowed. When finished catching, she cooks the fish for the drifters. Even though she is weird, their grandma is a loving one. She supports the kids, for example, she supports Mary in her dance and Joey in his flight. She is determined to help her friend Mrs. Wilcox. Mrs. Wilcox’s house was taken away by the banker because she can’t keep up with the payments. Successfully, Grandma negotiates with the bankers to have Mrs. Wilcox’s house back. Sometimes, appearance is different from the inner spirit. Grandma looks strong, but actually, she is loving grandma. Most people always take their physical looks as their personality but actually is something different.
Families both love and support each other from troublesome situations. The story “A Long Way from Chicago” gives many examples of family. First of all, families love each other. The children’s grandma supports both of them. She shows love for her grandchildren, for example, she helps Mary to get ready for the show by giving her ballet shoes. Additionally, grandma lies that she has won the pie contest so that Joey can have an experience in flying an airplane. This shows that the children’s grandma is a caring and kind woman even though she looks strict or tough on the physical side. In the end, before he goes to war, Joey is afraid that he may not see his grandma again, so he revisits his grandma. This shows that there is a strong bond between Joey and his grandma. Families always support one another during a challenging condition.
As young individuals grow up, they get a better understanding of others. In the beginning of the story, Joey and Mary thought their grandma is a strict person because grandma does look tough and severe on the physical side. But, as they grow up, they figure out that actually, the children’s grandma is a loving and caring grandmother on the inside. For example, Grandma fishes in a place where fishing is not allowed. From the children’s point of view, they think that their Grandma is very weird. As Joey grows up, he realizes that Grandma did this because the Great Depression happened during that time and if nobody helped, people would starve and suffer. We, as the readers, start to understand Grandma better as the story progresses. As we grow up, we can understand other people better than we used to think of them.
Grandma is a loving and caring grandmother. She has a soft heart, even though she looks harsh on the outside. She supports her grandchildren by finding the paraphernalia they need. She is very canny, and she uses it to negotiate with the banker in order to have Mrs. Wilcox’s house back. She protects a young girl from her abusing mother. She is so sympathetic, and she helps the drifters even though she chose to fish in a place where fishing is not allowed. As kids, Joey doesn’t understand his grandma at first, but as he grows, he begins to learn about his grandma better.
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