The struggle is real.

At least it is for Mary Alice Dowdel, who has to leave her beloved Chicago and spend the next year with her eccentric grandmother in a town so small it doesn't even have a movie theater. The reason? It's 1937 and the Great Depression has left Mary Alice's parents in a tough spot. They can't afford an apartment in Chicago that's big enough for them and their two kids.

Mary Alice's brother, Joey, is two years older and male (bonus), so he gets to go to California to plant trees for the government. That sounds pretty exciting to Mary Alice, but that option isn't open to her. She's only fifteen. And she's a girl. So, as much as she dreads it, she has to leave her city and her friends behind and enroll in the "hick-town school" where her grandmother lives.

Needless to say, she's not thrilled.

Of course, Mary Alice has visited her grandmother before, and it's been a hoot. We're talking about a woman who once stole the sheriff's boat to illegally trap fish, so yeah—Grandma Dowdel is not your typical senior citizen. But in the past, Mary Alice has always had her brother along for the ride. And the visits have always been shorter summer stays.

Those visits, by the way, are chronicled in Richard Peck's first book about the Dowdel family, A Long Way From Chicago, which is told from Joey's point of view.

In A Year Down Yonder, which was published in 2000, we see small-town Illinois and the unforgettable Grandma Dowdel from Mary Alice's perspective instead of her brother's. But this isn't just the same story rehashed in a girl's voice. Mary Alice brings a fresh perspective of the town and of Grandma Dowdel, with whom she establishes a nice relationship over the course of the book.

Mary Alice develops a few other relationships as well, getting up close and personal with a school bully, a mean girl, a New York artist, and—be still our Shmoopy heart—the utterly adorable Royce McNabb, the high school basketball star who catches every girl's eye.

Teen angst, town scandals, a budding romance, and a trigger-happy grandmother…all in a Newbery Medal–winning book. What more could you want?

Sure, Richard Peck's book A Year Down Yonder takes place over half a century ago. But that doesn't mean it's irrelevant today.

Mary Alice Dowdel is a girl who is going through the overwhelming and confusing process of growing up—and that's an experience that's pretty universal, whether your go-to technology is a Smartphone or a Philco radio.

In truth, the fact that Mary Alice is living in a different time makes her story all the more appealing. As Mary Alice becomes more aware of the world around her and the struggles everyone—including her own family—is facing, we begin to understand that her world isn't all that different from our own.

Yeah, yeah, she's living in 1937 and dealing with the aftermath of the Great Depression. But guess what? There are always people who are struggling, and lots of families have to make sacrifices to make ends meet. It's a valuable perspective to keep in mind, and as Mary Alice starts to realize that she has taken her family for granted, you may find yourself wondering a little bit about your own. Or about the people in your town who have it a little harder than you do. Or about your friends and some of the hardships they may face.

Either way, reading Mary Alice's story and watching her perspective shift may inspire you to make a little shift yourself. It's not all about Mary Alice. And it's not all about you, either.