Fair Weather
Granddad emits a strangled sound, 13-year-old Rosie pitches right off  her chair, and young Buster just vibrates. What event catapults the Beckett  family into such a state? The arrival of a letter from distant Chicago--and not  just a letter, an invitation from Mama's elusive, wealthy sister Aunt Euterpe.  She decides that it's high time for the children to see the world beyond "the  four walls of a one-room country schoolhouse." And what better opportunity than  the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition, to honor the 400th anniversary of the  discovery of America? Spanish nobility, President Cleveland, and Ferris wheels,  oh my! Richard Peck, Newbery Medal-winning author ofA Year Down Yonder, paints a  charming portrait of a 19th-century farming family turned upside down by a visit  to the big city. Narrator Rosie is friendly and funny as she describes the  instant (if not entirely successful) citification of her family, encounters with  Buffalo Bill himself, and her own delightfully eccentric Granddad who named his  horse after Lillian Russell (which is just fine until they meet her at the  fair). This wonderful, witty glimpse into 19th-century America--sprinkled with  historical photographs--concludes with an insightful essay on the Exposition.  Heartily recommended. (Ages 10 and older)--Karin Snelson--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.