A Year Down Yonder by Richard Peck

Genre: Historical Fiction/Novel
Age Range: 12 and up
Summary: Mary Alice is from Chicago, but is forced to go live with her grandmother out in the country when her parents can no longer support her living with them. There, she undergoes severe culture shock when she sees that the people in her grandmother's hometown are worse off than she and her family is back in Chicago. She and her grandmother, who is quite rough around the edges, have all sorts of random adventures. Her grandmother finds all sorts of ways to make money and she ends up benefiting the whole town. Her grandmother also does all sorts of really nice things without expecting any gratitude from her kindness' recipients. She acts as if she couldn't careless about them but secretly you see it in her actions. The grandmother is quirky but Mary Alice learns so much about life and people from her. At the end, Mary Alice marries her high school sweetheart in the living room of her grandmother's house and truly lives happily ever after!