8 Days in DUMBO

8 Days in DUMBO (which stands for Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass, for those who don’t know. I didn’t!) follows the life of 12-year old Phoebe Sproule over a period of eight very busy, very dramatic days. Along with her best friend London, Phoebe finds herself solving mysteries, helping neighbours, being hired by her enemy, attending school, working on a major history project, and dealing with the fallout of learning that her mother has been “mommy-blogging” the details of her life for years without her knowledge.

McMaster’s novel definitely works hard to keep the reader engaged. As I moved through the story, I became invested in learning what secret Serena was hiding, in whether or not Mr. Wong would recover, and if the missing four-year-old boy would be returned. However, there is so much going on in here that I have to wonder if it was all necessary. With subplots about Abby’s mom’s blog and a major history assignment, the focal point of the story sometimes became a bit muddled. I kept waiting for all these various threads to connect, and despite their all being part of Phoebe’s life, they never really did. Perhaps that was the intent, though—to illustrate just how complex and confusing one person’s life can be.

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. There weren’t many other characters for whom I felt an affection. So much time was spent on plot that the characters, perhaps, did not have as much depth as they could have.

Something noteworthy about this book is the occasional shift in perspective; twice in the novel, the narrator changes from Phoebe to Peter Philby, a four-year-old boy who has gone missing. Peter’s parts are written in short, choppy sentences--- almost in verse, at least visually. These sections of the novel give readers some clues as to his whereabouts, but also let readers know that he is safe despite being kidnapped. While the idea of a shifting narrator or different point of view has become quite popular in YA fiction, I’m not convinced it was entirely necessary here. It adds another layer to an already complicated plot.

I would like to read more about Phoebe Sproule, her life, and her friends, but perhaps one story at a time would make it easier to manage.