Up a Road Slowly

Infobox Book
name = Up a Road Slowly
title_orig =
translator =


image_caption =
author = Irene Hunt
illustrator =
cover_artist = Don Bolognese
country = United States
language = English
series =
genre = Novel
publisher = Follett
release_date = 1966
media_type = Print (Hardcover and Paperback), Audiobook
pages = 192 pp (first edition hardcover)
isbn = N/A
preceded_by =
followed_by =

"Up a Road Slowly" is a coming-of-age novel by Irene Hunt that won the Newbery Medal for excellence in American children's literature in 1967. The story takes place in the United States during the mid 20th century.

Plot summary

When seven-year-old Julie's mother dies, she is sent to live with her Aunt Cordelia. Cordelia is an unmarried schoolteacher, and lives in a large home several miles outside town. Her brother Haskell lives in a converted carriage house behind the main house. Haskell is an alcoholic, with aspirations of being a writer, although he never manages to produce a manuscript.

At first, Aunt Cordelia appears stern and strict to the grief-stricken Julie, but as she grows to young adulthood, Julie grows to love her, and to see her aunt's house as home. She becomes so attached to Aunt Cordelia that even when she has the chance to move back with her father, she declines.

This coming-of-age story follows Julie from elementary school through her high school graduation, documenting the ordinary events in the life of this child: first love, struggles with schoolwork, and growing understanding of the adults in her life.