Applet,
Kathi, and Alison McGhee. Maybe A Fox. Simon & Schuster/Atheneum 2016
272p $16.99 ISBN 978-1-4424-8242-5 elem/ms
Fantasy VG-BN
Eleven-year-old Jules is fascinated
with rocks and collects them for fun and making wishes on as she skips them into
the river. Her sister, twelve-year-old Sylvie, is a fast runner and works hard
at becoming even faster. The girls and their father are struggling with the death of
their mother a few years ago, but the family is learning to adjust to their new
“normal”. The girls try hard
to obey their father’s list of “Do Nots”, but one morning Sylvie feels the need to throw a wishing rock in the
river before school, a dangerous act that is forbidden by their father. She
disappears and her body is never found. Jules and her father are plunged into
grief once more. As Sylvie disappears, a fox kit is born that is Kennen, which
means she is spiritually connected to another creature. The kit doesn’t know
why, but she is drawn to Jules as the girl tries to figure out why her sister
needed to run so fast. One day,
Jules figures it
out with the help of the fox, and as she tries to throw a wishing rock in the river in honor of
her sister, the fox saves her. Jules is not the only one mourning, as a
secondary plotline follows Zeke, the older brother of her friend Sam, whose
best friend doesn’t return with him from their tour in Afghanistan. Jules and
Zeke bond as they try to deal with their losses.
The story is heavy, but is lightened by the alternating perspective of Jules and the fox kit. The struggles of the child as she mourns her sister and best friend and the fading memories of the mother she lost years before are heart-wrenching. The conclusion is touching, as Jules discovers why her sister felt compelled to run so fast and the enormous grief she, too, carried with her. Recommended.
The story is heavy, but is lightened by the alternating perspective of Jules and the fox kit. The struggles of the child as she mourns her sister and best friend and the fading memories of the mother she lost years before are heart-wrenching. The conclusion is touching, as Jules discovers why her sister felt compelled to run so fast and the enormous grief she, too, carried with her. Recommended.
Summary: Jules is
an eleven-year-old who loves to skip rocks in the river. One day her sister
Sylvie disappears while skipping a rock in the river, and her body is never
found. The same day, a fox kit is born who appears to be half-human.
Foxes-Fiction, Missing persons-Fiction, Sisters-Fiction --Stephanie Pennucci
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