Reading Level: Ages 9-12

Peck is the award-winning writer of more than twenty-five novels for young readers. Fair Weather deserves to be on Oprah's adult list as it would have great appeal to her core audience and Peck's writing is delicious. By no means do I want to suggest that this is solely a female's book. It's a terrific story to read aloud with the whole family.

It is 1893. Thirteen-year-old Rosie Beckett lives on a small farm in southern Illinois with her parents, grandpa, older sister, and younger brother. It is a rugged life of early morning chores and long days of work. It is a life without electricity or anything frivolous or luxurious. The children only wear shoes for special occasions. The Becketts have no complaints—it is the life they know. But everything changes when their aunt sends them train tickets and invites them to Chicago for a week to visit the World's Columbian Exposition. The trip is a whirlwind adventure of fact and fiction you won't want to miss.

— KB SHAW, Publisher, Spectrum - Member SCBWI