Review of Donny and Mary Grace's California Adventures

[Sindhu Manivannan]

[Following is a volunteer review of "Donny and Mary Grace's California Adventures" by Catherine A. Pepe.]

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5 out of 5 stars

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Donny and Mary Grace’s California Adventures by Catherine A. Pepe opens with a trip to the zoo gone awry as the Miller family embark on a search for Donny Miller, the youngest child of the family who also happens to have Down syndrome. After Donny is safely found, the story progresses as the Miller siblings, Donny and Mary Grace, face a brand-new adventure ahead of them as they move from Kansas to California and settle into life with their grandparents.

This book has a wonderful story to tell! The author does an incredible job of portraying the Miller siblings and their view of their move to Kansas. The dialogue was well-written, and it was easy to understand the perspectives and actions of each of the characters. There is a smooth transition between events as the story progresses, and it is important to highlight that this is a book that highlights adults and children working together instead of the main character (a child) shouldering the burden of her trials alone. The story is written in a way that embodies how children would think and behave in each situation, and this is something that the author should be commended for, as this is no easy feat. The important aspect of this story is the way in which both adults and children handle bullying, and the emphasis on how bullying can occur in any form and how it should be treated shines through. Unfortunately, not all schools in real life will handle bullying with such grace, but the author does an incredible job of portraying how these situations should be handled in an ideal world.

Truly, there was nothing that I disliked about this book. Overall, I rate this book a 5 out of 5 for great story-telling and portrayal of characters, as well as exceptional editing. This book contains instances of profanity that are important to the narrative, and there are no instances of sexual content. I would recommend this book to all children, as this book does a great job of portraying Down syndrome characters with grace and teaches the reader how to handle bullying at school.

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Donny and Mary Grace's California Adventures
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