Q 01/05

What does Grandma Dowdel pour over the prankster she trips with a wire outside her house in A Year Down Yonder?

A) Warm glue

B) Whitewash

C) Hot molasses

D) Lye soap

Answer · why

A) Warm glue

Warm glue is her weapon: she cooks it on the stove, strings a wire across the yard and waits in the dark for the gang to arrive.

Q 02/05

In A Year Down Yonder, what drops from Grandma Dowdel's attic onto the model posing for her artist boarder?

A) A bat

B) A raccoon

C) A snake

D) A barn owl

Answer · why

C) A snake

A snake that Grandma keeps in the attic to scare birds out of the roof lands on Maxine Patch, who bolts through town wearing nothing else.

Q 03/05

In A Year Down Yonder, what does Mary Alice find in the manger instead of a doll during the Christmas play?

A) A newborn lamb

B) A live baby

C) A stray puppy

D) A sleeping piglet

Answer · why

B) A live baby

A live baby is lying there, and Grandma Dowdel can tell at a glance which local family the foundling belongs to.

Q 04/05

What does Grandma Dowdel ram into a neighbor's tree to shake down pecans for her pies in A Year Down Yonder?

A) A hay wagon

B) A pickup truck

C) A mule cart

D) A tractor

Answer · why

D) A tractor

A tractor does the job: the owner had said she could have any pecans that had fallen, so Grandma makes sure plenty of them fall.

Q 05/05

How does Grandma Dowdel deal with the bully who follows Mary Alice home demanding a dollar in A Year Down Yonder?

A) Unties her horse

B) Pays her the dollar

C) Fetches the sheriff

D) Locks her in the cellar

Answer · why

A) Unties her horse

Grandma unties her horse and makes her boots vanish, leaving the bully a five-mile walk home barefoot.