(1) 4-6 Wanting grownups to emulate, Archer Magill applauds his uncle Paul; that Paul turns out to be gay is not a crisis. Uncle Paul's life and romance don't overwhelm Archer's dramas involving teachers, friends, enemies, and a dying grandfather, all of which roll along with brio and feeling. We're not done needing books like this; comic and matter-of-fact, Peck's latest steps out to lead the way.

Reviewer: Gregory Maguire | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2016

(2) 4-6 Illustrated by Kelly Murphy. The orphaned narrator of this companion to Secrets at Sea, raised in the mouse domain of Queen Victoria's Buckingham Palace, doesn't even know his own name; his question-mark-shaped tail reflects the many questions he has about himself. Children will enjoy the twists and turns of this rags-to-riches adventure story as well as its easy, unlabored style.

Reviewer: Susan Dove Lempke | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2013

(1) 4-6 Illustrated by Kelly Murphy. In this rollicking comedy of manners, the social-climbing Cranstons (human) take an ocean voyage to Europe hoping to snag a husband for daughter Olive. Observant, careful Helena and her quite-a-bit-less-prudent younger siblings (mice) go, too. Peck's droll take on human and mouse society is exquisite, and Murphy's dandy and detailed pencil illustrations add just the right air of royalty.

Reviewer: Robin L. Smith | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2011

(2) YA Sophomore Kerry is thrilled to be allowed into a clique of super-cool seniors. When the other girls are killed in a car crash, Kerry feels she's "three quarters dead"--until the dead return. Peck masterfully uses a first-person viewpoint to trace his protagonist's journey. Wrapping events in the shrouds of a ghost story balances his message about the power of the peer group.

Reviewer: Dean Schneider | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2010

(1) 4-6 In this companion to A Year Down Yonder and A Long Way from Chicago, twelve-year-old Bob Barnhart's family moves next door to Grandma Dowdel (Mrs. Dowdel to them). Her tricks and pranks, coupled with thorough knowledge of the town's citizens, provide as much amusement as ever. Irascible, independent, and unorthodox, Grandma Dowdel has entered that rare pantheon of unforgettably great characters.

Reviewer: Jonathan Hunt | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2009

(4) 4-6 Peck gives readers a nostalgic glimpse into the American heartland during World War II. He's all about setting here, using Davy Bowman as the voice to describe the scene: a town that remembers the horrors of the preceding war but nonetheless supports the present one. Davy's idols, his father and his brother, begin and end as heroes, creating a weak arc.

Reviewer: Betty Carter | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2007

(2) 4-6 Although eleven of these thirteen stories have appeared elsewhere, here they create new patterns as elements of one story inform others. The accumulated stories create an arc that both defines and unites Peck's writing career. Peck shares his thoughts about writing with introductions to each section that discuss elements of the craft, the circumstances surrounding the writing of a particular story, or the way a story influenced his career.

Reviewer: Betty Carter | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2004

(1) YA Within days of his teacher's (unlamented) passing, fifteen-year-old Russell finds himself an unwilling pupil of her replacement: his older sister Tansy. Set in 1904 rural Indiana, the novel recounts events at the one-room Hominy Ridge School in a highly comic style, but beneath the humor there are clear emotional currents that make the final chapter particularly moving.

Reviewer: Peter D. Sieruta | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2004

(1) YA A boy's grandmother recounts the story of her teenage years, when a steamboat brought two strangers to Grand Tower, Illinois--glamorous Delphine and her companion Calinda. The townspeople think these "Secesh gals" may be Confederate spies but the truth is far more complicated. The harsh realities of war are honestly related in the always surprising plot.

Reviewer: Peter D. Sieruta | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2003

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Don Freeman. Peck's only picture book is reissued with a new introduction (which may interest adults; kids--the ostensible audience for this volume--won't give a fig). The archetypal story--a young boy visiting his grandmother is afraid that monsters lurk in the darkness of the room he's sleeping in--is enhanced by Freeman's atmospheric scratchboard illustrations, but the text is overlong.

Reviewer: Peter D. Sieruta

(1) 4-6 This novel, narrated by thirteen-year-old Rosie Beckett, provides an animated and vivid trip back to the 1893 Chicago World's Fair. Rosie and her two siblings haven't traveled much beyond their rural Illinois farm, so their first trip to the big city of Chicago is as eye-opening and bewildering as the breathtaking sights of the fair. Rosie's energetic and humorous narration reflects all the wonder, optimism, and possibility the fair offered.

Reviewer: Kitty Flynn | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2001

(2) 4-6 This satisfying sequel to A Long Way from Chicago is narrated by fifteen-year-old Mary Alice, who is living with her formidable grandma Dowdel during the 1937 recession. While these stories don't have the cumulative power of the first book, Peck again presents memorable characters, and his subdued humor is much in evidence. Those looking to be entertained by Grandma Dowdel will enjoy this visit.

Reviewer: Kitty Flynn | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2000

(2) YA Peck's first novel was the basis for the 1992 film Gas Food Lodging. Despite its Vietnam, pre-Roe v. Wade setting (both the war and teen pregnancy figure in the plot), the book remains remarkably contemporary and subtle in its treatment of the changing relationships of three sisters.

Reviewer: The Horn Book, Inc.

(2) YA Peck has edited his 1980 adult novel to offer a delicious melodrama for young adults. Miranda is the personal maid to Amanda, a headstrong English heiress who schemes to work their uncanny physical resemblance to her advantage. But it's Miranda who pulls off the switch of the century, when Amanda drowns in the Titanic disaster. The page turner has rainy days and summer reading written all over it.

Reviewer: Betty Carter | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2000

(1) 4-6 Using life in a Depression-era small town as the backdrop, Peck regales us with seven thoroughly entertaining stories featuring Grandma Dowdel, a formidable woman whose un-grandmotherly ways are a constant source of surprise (and often shock) to her grandchildren. Each tale is a small masterpiece of storytelling, and taken as a whole, the novel reveals a strong sense of place, a depth of characterization, and a rich sense of humor.

Reviewer: Kitty Flynn | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 1998

(2) 4-6 Molly recounts her seventh-grade year at her great-aunt Fay's while her addict mother is in rehab. Another recent arrival, Will (whose father may or may not be in jail), dubs himself and Molly "strays." Molly takes realistically small steps toward accepting her mother's abandonment of her and her aunt's sincere desire to keep her, and by novel's end both adolescents have found homes and family and are strays no more.

Reviewer: The Horn Book, Inc.