The Innocent Polly McDoodle

Brenda Baltensperger is a playwright, a director of children’s
theatre, an editor of children’s fiction, and the author of Fractured
Fairy-tales.

When Polly spots eight-year-old Chris hammering a sign on the railing of
the tree fort she shares with her friends and co-detectives, she is
unaware that this is the beginning of another mystery to be solved.
Widespread graffiti and an attack on a mural at the mall and other
property point to Polly. The mysterious insignia of a magpie left at
several scenes of damage leads Polly to suspect that Peter, Chris’s
father, who is a participating artist at the Art Fair in the mall, might
be one of the culprits.

Polly sets out to prove that a teenage gang, the Dragonflys, is
responsible for vandalizing a bus shelter and cars in the parking lot.
Meanwhile she’s been hired to babysit Chris, and has her hands full
trying to cope with his lack of discipline and his inattentive and
immature father. When Chris disappears in the middle of a severe
tornado-like storm, Polly enlists her friends to help. Eventually, Chris
is found and the vandals are caught.

The plot reveals that although rules are necessary for the safety and
well-being of those concerned, they need to be tempered with
understanding and respect for the individual’s personal space. Highly
recommended.