DONNY AND MARY GRACE'S CALIFORNIA ADVENTURES

A brother and sister adjust to moving to California and living with their grandparents.

This debut middle-grade novel opens in Wichita, Kansas, where 5-year-old Donny has just wandered away from his family at the zoo. While the adults scramble to locate him, his older sister, Mary Grace, brings deductive reasoning to the problem and figures out where he has gone. With the family reunited, the siblings reflect on how happy they are to live in Wichita. But there are changes ahead because their parents have just decided to spend two years as missionaries in Africa while Donny and Mary Grace go to live with Grandma Cathy and Papa Steve in California. Rising fifth grader Mary Grace resists having to leave her home and friends, but the decision is final. In California, she slowly settles in with the help of caring teachers, sympathetic grandparents, and the Grandma Gang: Cathy and her bridge-playing friends LaShana Jackson and Elizabeth Blythe, who also have a talent for solving mysteries. When Mary Grace is harassed by an anonymous bully at school because of Donny’s Down syndrome, she manages to unmask the culprit with help from both her teacher and the Grandma Gang. Soon after the crisis is resolved, Mary Grace faces another challenge: A dognapping ring makes off with the family’s pooches, along with dozens of others. After Mary Grace and her new friend Justin’s sleuthing leads the police to the kidnappers and the neighborhood pets return home, Donny inadvertently gets in the way of a smuggling ring operating out of his great-grandmother’s retirement home. The criminals grab him while retrieving their loot. But Mary Grace—with some adult assistance—is able to save the day again and bring Donny home safely.

Pepe’s book is heartfelt and written with clear affection for Mary Grace and Donny, who are fully realized and well-rounded characters. In particular, the author does an excellent job of making Donny’s disability one part of his identity, not his defining feature, and treats his condition with sensitivity. Mary Grace’s anguish at having to leave her home just as she was getting ready to enjoy the privileges of being a nearly grown fifth grader rings true, although her parents’ decision to suddenly leave for their mission trip may leave readers questioning their judgment. The tale’s settings are also well developed, with the contrast between Kansas and California clear to readers. But the novel needed some polishing. There are numerous text errors (missing punctuation, excess capitalization, the inconsistent spelling of Down syndrome), and the dialogue sounds inauthentic at times (“Mary Grace said, ‘that’s what my friends bought for school because that’s what the stars wear on ‘YouTube’ ”). While the dognapping and smuggling plot threads strain credulity, Pepe is on firmer ground with the bullying incident, which reflects a clear understanding of how many contemporary schools handle inappropriate language and restorative justice. The grandparents’ relationship with Mary Grace and Donny is emotionally satisfying, and the presence of the Grandma Gang allows the kids to find plenty of adult support and guidance while their parents are absent.

An enthusiastic but uneven tale about two siblings and their adventures.