A Year Down Yonder Characters

She's a rich girl. Not really. In fact, not at all. But that's the way fifteen-year-old Mary Alice Dowdel's classmates view her. She's from the big city of Chicago, so she must come from money, rig...

Grandma Dowdel is a force to be reckoned with—in fact, she's something of a legend in her small town. When she takes Mary Alice in for the year, she exposes her granddaughter to the full range of...

When Royce McNabb—the tall, handsome stranger—shows up in Mary Alice's class, all the girls swoon. He's a good-looking boy from another town, and the most popular girl immediately calls dibs on...

Joey Dowdel doesn't show up often in the story, but his absence is a big deal—especially since Mary Alice is used to going to visit her grandmother with him there for moral support. That's how it...

It's no surprise that when Grandma Dowdel picks up a boarder at her house, it turns out to be someone who is every bit as eccentric as she is. Arnold Green is an artist who has come from New York C...

Mary Alice's teacher, Miss Butler, is as prim as can be and super professional. That's why Mary Alice is shocked and confused when Grandma Dowdel wants to invite her over for dinner. What could she...

Joey and Mary Alice's parents don't factor much in A Year Down Yonder because they're largely absent. After all, they're just trying to keep their finances afloat in Chicago, which is why Mary Alic...

Led by Carleen Lovejoy, the richest and most popular girl in school, almost all of the high school girls snub Mary Alice when she shows up in their midst. They don't like that she's from Chicago, a...

There's just one girl at school who hangs out with Mary Alice, and that's Ina-Rae Gage, an alarmingly thin girl who's obviously not getting enough to eat at home. She and Mary Alice enjoy coming up...