Review of Donny, Mary Grace and the Ugly Marbles
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Nat Barie
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- Latest Review: Donny, Mary Grace and the Ugly Marbles by Catherine A. Pepe
Review of Donny, Mary Grace and the Ugly Marbles
[Following is a volunteer review of "Donny, Mary Grace and the Ugly Marbles" by Catherine A. Pepe.]
Donny, Mary Grace and the Ugly Marbles is a children’s book by Catherine Anna Pepe. As a part of the Grandma Gang mystery series, the story follows a cast of characters who like to solve mysteries in their community. This story follows two siblings who live with their grandparents: a young girl, Mary Grace, and her little brother, Donny, who has Down syndrome. While “the Grandma Gang” deals with church choir rivalries in the senior living facility, the kids become entangled in a smuggling ring operation.
Donny and his friend Ed enjoy playing with marbles. When Mary Grace and Donny discover that Ed’s mom receives mysterious boxes of Chinese checker sets, Donny opens a box to look at the marbles. He finds that each checker set contains oddly shaped rocks that do not resemble marbles. Donny deems these rocks “ugly marbles” and replaces them with regular white marbles from his collection. When a couple of criminals come to pick up the checker sets from Ed’s mom, they are upset to find that the “ugly marbles” are missing and are willing to threaten anyone to get them back. Despite Donny’s good intentions, Donny’s actions put himself and others in danger. On the other hand, Donny’s curiosity might just be what brings down the criminals’ scheme.
I could follow along with this story and its characters, having not read any of the other books in the series. The book has humorous dialogue and a satisfying story arc in which everything comes full circle. The story follows two main storylines of rival choirs and a smuggling operation within a senior living facility. Both storylines teach that you can still be friends and work with people who believe differently from you. I enjoyed the sibling relationship between Mary Grace and Donny. It is nice to see such affection between siblings. I also found Mary Grace’s protectiveness of Donny heartwarming. Donny’s curiosity gets him into trouble, but his innocence saves the day. I appreciate the premise that pure innocence can foil a criminal operation and how protecting such innocence can bring people together.
I give this book 5 out of 5 stars. It is a well-written story. I noticed a couple of grammatical errors, but those errors did not take away from my reading experience. The book contains lessons on setting aside differences to work together and embracing differences with love and respect. Although the book is meant for a younger audience, readers of any age could enjoy this story. Donny, Mary Grace and the Ugly Marbles would be a great book to have in an elementary school library.
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Donny, Mary Grace and the Ugly Marbles
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Donny, Mary Grace and the Ugly Marbles is a children’s book by Catherine Anna Pepe. As a part of the Grandma Gang mystery series, the story follows a cast of characters who like to solve mysteries in their community. This story follows two siblings who live with their grandparents: a young girl, Mary Grace, and her little brother, Donny, who has Down syndrome. While “the Grandma Gang” deals with church choir rivalries in the senior living facility, the kids become entangled in a smuggling ring operation.
Donny and his friend Ed enjoy playing with marbles. When Mary Grace and Donny discover that Ed’s mom receives mysterious boxes of Chinese checker sets, Donny opens a box to look at the marbles. He finds that each checker set contains oddly shaped rocks that do not resemble marbles. Donny deems these rocks “ugly marbles” and replaces them with regular white marbles from his collection. When a couple of criminals come to pick up the checker sets from Ed’s mom, they are upset to find that the “ugly marbles” are missing and are willing to threaten anyone to get them back. Despite Donny’s good intentions, Donny’s actions put himself and others in danger. On the other hand, Donny’s curiosity might just be what brings down the criminals’ scheme.
I could follow along with this story and its characters, having not read any of the other books in the series. The book has humorous dialogue and a satisfying story arc in which everything comes full circle. The story follows two main storylines of rival choirs and a smuggling operation within a senior living facility. Both storylines teach that you can still be friends and work with people who believe differently from you. I enjoyed the sibling relationship between Mary Grace and Donny. It is nice to see such affection between siblings. I also found Mary Grace’s protectiveness of Donny heartwarming. Donny’s curiosity gets him into trouble, but his innocence saves the day. I appreciate the premise that pure innocence can foil a criminal operation and how protecting such innocence can bring people together.
I give this book 5 out of 5 stars. It is a well-written story. I noticed a couple of grammatical errors, but those errors did not take away from my reading experience. The book contains lessons on setting aside differences to work together and embracing differences with love and respect. Although the book is meant for a younger audience, readers of any age could enjoy this story. Donny, Mary Grace and the Ugly Marbles would be a great book to have in an elementary school library.
******
Donny, Mary Grace and the Ugly Marbles
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Latest Review: Donny, Mary Grace and the Ugly Marbles by Catherine A. Pepe
