Owen isn''t expecting anything other than a good night''s sleep when he''s shipped off to his grandmother''s farm after his baby sister is born, but he soon discovers that he fits right in with the three-legged dog, the blind goat, and a very angry pony. Then Grandma wins the lottery and everything changes.
From the Critics:
"This gentle novel brings to mind the works of James Herriot, full of memorable animal characters, cups of steaming hot cocoa, and frosty mornings out in the barn. Highly recommended." CM: Canadian Review of Materials, March 20th, 2009
"... a thrilling outcome for Owen ... one that debut author McMaster deftly and convincingly orchestrates." Susan Perren, Children''s Book Reviewer, The Globe and Mail, November 8th, 2008
Honours:
Shortlisted for the 2011 Rocky Mountain Book Award
Shortlisted for the 2010/2011 Hackmatack Children''s Choice Book Award
Longlisted for the Canadian Library Association''s 2009 Book of the Year for Children Award
About the Author: 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 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 (a Best Books for Kids & Teens selection), 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, a Best Books for Kids & Teens selection, and the 2015 Moonbeam Children''s Book Award Early Reader/1st Chapter Books winner. 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 Best Book for Kids & Teens *Starred* Selection. The first book in her Phoebe Sproule series, 8 Days in DUMBO, was named one of *The Year''s Best* by Resource Links and won an Honorable Mention in the 2019/2020 Reader Views Literary Awards. The sequel, The Haunting of Cedar Hill Plantation, was released in 2020 and won a Bronze Medal in the Reader Views Literary Award.