What distinguishes a friend from an enemy is a complicated affair for 12-year-old Phoebe as she tries to understand the hurtful behavior of Serena, a girl who is taunting her. By contrast, four-year-old Peter Philby, who is missing from the DUMBO area of Brooklyn, knows exactly what a bully is. It's on his mind all the time. What he doesn't know is that a girl he's never met will change the outcome of his ordeal.
Named one of *The Year's Best* by Resource Links.
Awarded an Honorable Mention in the 2019/2020 Reader Views Literary Awards.
REVIEWS:
'A lot happens in this story - the mystery, Phoebe and her friends creating a history project, the man next door who puts signs in his window to communicate, and a girl who can't hear or speak who works at a restaurant where Phoebe and her grandma go a lot. How does all this go together? You just have to read it to find out! I think kids around the ages of 10 to 13 would like "8 Days in DUMBO" by Margaret J. McMaster. It's a fun story and full of action and adventure.' Reviewed by Maddie (age 12) for Reader Views Kids
'Phoebe, herself, is a delightful character: smart, funny, clever, forgiving, and just a genuinely good person. Her interactions with the other characters in the novel illustrate a kind and caring nature. She's the kind of character that readers will genuinely root for, despite the fact that most of the major conflicts happen to the characters around her.' Recommended. CM: Canadian Review of Materials, Nov. 22, 2019.
'Margaret McMaster has penned an easy-read, suitable for students in upper elementary and middle school. The author keeps readers engaged in the story, and certainly wanting to solve the mystery, find the missing child, and even learn what secret Serena has. There is lots of adventure and antics happening in 8 Days in DUMBO, portraying the complexity of life found in reality.' Resource Links, Dec. 2019 Issue.
Margaret J. McMaster published her first book of middle-grade fiction, Carried Away on Licorice Days, in 2008. It was nominated for three literary awards: the Canadian Library Association's 2009 Book of the Year for Children Award, the 2010/2011 Hackmatack Children's Choice Book Award, and the 2011 Rocky Mountain Book Award. In 2009 she started writing the Babysitter Out of Control! series. These amusing, fast-paced adventures include: Babysitter Out of Control!, Looking for Love on Mongo Tongo, The Improbable Party on Purple Plum Lane, What Happened in July (selected for Best Books for Kids & Teens - Spring 2013), The Sinking of the Wiley Bean, and, The Queen of Second Chances. The Complete Babysitter Out of Control! Series, published in 2015, was long-listed for the 2016 Silver Birch Award, selected for Best Books for Kids&Teens- Fall 2015, and the Gold Medal Winner in the 2015 Moonbeam Children's Book Award Early Reader/1st Chapter Books categpry. McMaster is a past contributor to the Canadian Children's Annual and her creative non-fiction piece, After All These Years, was shortlisted for the 2006 CBC Literary Award. So Much Potential, a novel set in the Lake Erie fishing industry, was published in 2013. It was a Starred* Selection in Best Books for Kids&Teens- Spring 2014.
