A Season of Gifts by Richard Peck (2009)

A companion novel l to A Long Way from Chicago and A Year Down Yonder, this incarnation of Mrs. Dowdel's adventures takes place some twenty-five years later and her grandchildren are grown. The story relates the surprising gifts bestowed on twelve-year-old Bob Barnhart and his family, who have recently moved to a small Illinois town in 1958, by their larger-than-life neighbor, Mrs. Dowdel. Bob's father is the new pastor of the run-down Methodist church in town with little to no congregation. Though, Mrs. Dowdel is no church woman, through her secret antics and peculiar ways, the church is set to right and the church prospers. Bob witnesses and participates in more than he plan on - with lots of hilarity along the way. Fun Christmas read! Ages: 9+