1. Create a map and an illustration depicting Grandma Dowdel's town in southern Illinois.

2. Grandma called the news reporter "citified." Do you consider yourself "citified"? Is she using a stereotype about the reporter? Are there both positive and negative stereotypes? Discuss your thoughts.

3. Select one episode and turn it into a script. Recruit classmates to help perform it. Record your production on video to share with others.

4. Design a wordless book by creating one illustration per chapter to represent the events. You can draw, paint, or make collages—choose your preferred medium and artistic style.

5. Imagine another summer vacation with Grandma Dowdel. Mary Alice is now fourteen, and Joey is sixteen. What adventure might Grandma plan for them this time? You can write a new chapter or record an oral version on audio tape.

6. The town saloon closed during the Temperance movement. Research this historical movement and present your findings.

7. A Long Way from Chicago is set during the Great Depression. What was the Great Depression? How did it impact people? Was it only in the United States? If not, how did it affect people globally? Conduct research. Prepare interview questions and speak with individuals who lived through the Great Depression. Record these interviews on audio or video tape to include with your report and share.

8. Peck used an episodic chapter structure for this book. What does that mean? Reflect on your own life. Identify a recurring event and write an episodic account of those events, similar to Peck's style in A Long Way from Chicago.

9. There are several maxims in A Long Way from Chicago. Find these sayings and discuss their meanings. One example is: "Make something seem real, and people will believe it. The public will swallow anything."