Review of Donny and Mary Grace's California Adventure

[Chimomaebuka Ejimchi]

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

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4 out of 4 stars

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Mary Grace Miller and her brother, Donny Miller, live with their father, who is a priest, and their mother, who is a civil engineer in Wichita, Kansas. The book begins with an announcement at Sedgwick County Zoo in Wichita, Kansas, stating that Donny Miller is missing and describing the missing child. Mr. and Mrs. Miller, along with Mary Grace, are worried about him, especially since he was born with Down Syndrome. Donny, who is known as a happy child, is later found.

As the story continues, Mr. and Mrs. Miller tell their children that they have been assigned a mission in Africa and would have to leave their present place of residence for two years. They tell the children they would have to go to California to live with their grandparents for a while. Mary Grace, especially, is very angry as she does not want to leave Wichita, but she agrees to go soon after. What adventures await the children in California?

The first thing I loved about the book Donny and Mary Grace's California Adventures is that Catherine Anna Pepe talks about a character who is disabled in her story. As she mentions at the beginning of the book, there are only a few books that have characters who are disabled or suffer from disabilities. This makes it appear like people with disabilities are not part of our world. They are not brought into our stories most time. The character, Donny, was born with Down Syndrome, and this, along with the fact that he was a happy child, made him special. The book is very easy to understand, and the intended readers will find it easy to follow the book and learn from it because of the author's narrative style. One thing I liked about her narrative style was how some words were italicized for emphasis. While reading, I tried to imagine what the author must have had in mind while writing the book.

The book contains a lot of lessons. One of the lessons in this book is not to judge a book by it's cover. I loved that the book had lessons in almost every chapter. I loved the way the author portrayed her characters. For example, Mary Grace's behaviors and reactions were typical of children her age, while her brother acted like a typical 5-year-old. I found the part where Donny asked, “who is Africa?” extremely funny. I found even more humorous Mary Grace's attempt to be smart when she said her holey trousers would be okay for church because they are “holey.”

I found no negative aspects in this book. It contained no error; hence, it was exceptionally well edited. Based on the foregoing, I rate the book four out of four stars. The book was well written, and I had no reason to deduct a star from my rating.

I recommend this book to children between the ages of seven and twelve. Although teenagers would be able to read this, I think children between the ages I mentioned would have a better understanding of the book. I also recommend it to anyone looking for a book filled with lessons.

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Donny and Mary Grace's California Adventure
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[Lucy Vera]

I like how this book contained a lot of pages even from the first pages. This is indeed good as children need to have good values inculcated in them at early stages of their lives. Thanks for the review.

[Chiwelite Obioma Mgbeoji]

Catherine has blessed hands to have written such a thoughtful book, especially with how she managed to bring in people living with disabilities. This book will offer a lot to readers. Thanks for the review.

[ThankGod Onyishi]

I like the use of humour in this book. Added to the other positive aspects you mentioned in this beautiful review, I see no reason why this book won't be loved. Thank you for the review.

[José Cortez]

This book would make a perfect read for it's intended audience. Added to its good storyline, it is written in a manner that will be very beautiful for readers. Thank you for a wonderful review.

[Favour Amarachi Mgbeoji]

I would love to know what the children encountered in California. I love that this book contained a lot of lessons. Children would get to learn a lot from this book. Thank you for this review.

[Vivian Stones]

I don't really know how people with Down syndrome. I guess I would learn about it from this book. I also love the fact that this book is very easy to understand. Thank you for your review.

[Emmanuella C Arumeze]

There are so many things to actually love about this book. Is it the lessons I would learn from it? Or the fact that I would learn about the down syndrome in this book. I also love the fact that this book has no errors

[Tony Official]

I love the fact that the author included a character with a disability in this book. It would make the readers out there learn about it and how to approach people with the disabilities. Thank you for your review.

[Chinemezu Okafor]

The title of the book is exactly what the book is all about. I want to learn about the adventures of Mary and her brother in California. Thank you for your review.

[Margi zuu202]

A charming book with an important lesson Catherine Pepe's recounts school bullying the mystery and series' of bullying parents have something to tell you always scary word for kids to hear . stigmatizing people with disability in our society while people with disability ate twenty percent of the world population the strend must stop this book change how people view people with disability I will highly recommend it

[Margi zuu202]

A charming book with an important lesson Catherine Pepe's recounts school bullying the mystery and series' of bullying parents have something to tell you always scary word for kids to hear . stigmatizing people with disability in our society while people with disability ate twenty percent of the world population the strend must stop this book change how people view people with disability I will highly recommend it

[Keine Gheyinmi]

This is the first book I've ever read on this website and I can tell you that I enjoyed it. The Miller's family are a set of lovely people and oh how I love the "Grandma Gang". I also love how Mary Grace settled the issue of her being bullied and her brother being call a "retard"

[resty smith]

The book is fantastic it makes u think u are part of mary's family

[JuliusOnyango]

The cover of this book has made me pick it. Being a fan of mystery and adventure stories I hope I will enjoy it.