“The dance with words and the way the hair on the back of my neck raises when it works right is what I live for.”, “I write because I exist. The compensation received will never influence the content, topics or posts made on this site. Change ), You are commenting using your Google account. Whilst there are some mildly frightening moments, and the overall themes of death and grief make for a sad story, the connection between the fox family and the grieving human family is uplifting. Though the book takes place in modern times, it is seeped in the American folklore of the north, giving it an old-world, mythological atmosphere. Reading it without knowing too much about it beforehand will enhance its magic. After that, I have another middle-grade novel to revise, and after that, I have a young adult novel to revise. My pick was Maybe a Fox, which I picked up because it seemed like a good winter read, and I was so glad I did. I think that stories of hope are important for all readers, actually. Why is this sort of novel important for young readers, particularly middle grade? Right now I’m finishing the revision of a new novel for adults. After that, it was a lot of revising. Sisters Jules and Sylvie have already endured the tragic loss of their mother, so when Sylvie suddenly goes missing, Jules deals with her grief by withdrawing further into her obsession of collecting and sorting rocks, a motif used throughout the book to symbolise control and order. So right from the start of our friendship, the idea of a book about two sisters was born. Jules and Sylvie are sisters that are extremely close, especially after the death of their mom. I always have thought that hope is harder than despair—you have to talk yourself into it sometimes—but you can’t go on for long without it. The human-animal connections continue when a mysterious wildcat, not seen for more than a century, returns to the woods. The forest and wild land that surrounds their home is almost a character in and of itself, full of ritual and comfort and a kind of magic.

I am always open to working with Alison again. It was important, too, so I wonder why the authors did not close out this particular part of the story. But that also meant re-imagining what was motivating Jules. Hey, I'm Emily Rose. Good thing I love working on them, right? Why is this sort of novel important for young readers, particularly middle grade? I never really intended to co-write a story, but Alison and I were so copacetic when it came to our views of the world and our notions of story that within the first week of our friendship we both agreed—maybe a co-authored story would be fun. Where did the idea for “Maybe a Fox” come from? Besides bookish things, I love Disney and pretending my life is a musical. One pup, Senna, connects with an ethereal force and at this point, the narrative takes on a lingering magic realism. This in itself makes it the perfect book to read during the wintertime. The poem, which Kathi and I both loved, had a small fox in it, a fox that we were entranced by.

I am a passionate, rigid, and vehement advocate of the Oxford Comma, but frankly couldn’t care less if you choose to carelessly split your infinitives. I picked up this book because I needed a bit of lighter reading after finishing The Circle by Dave Eggers. The writing style is simple, in accordance with the intended audience, yet it has a soft, mystical, poetic quality that had me utterly captivated. Change ), You are commenting using your Facebook account. This book sounds lovely!! Plan?

My pick was Maybe a Fox, which I picked up … Elk and Sam didn’t really get a chance to get that closure with the catamount. Chopping and re-writing the work of someone whose writing you love, as if it’s your own work, was an interesting and initially formidable task.

I was also hankering for some middle grade.

Let’s just say that it involves the death of a character and a reincarnation of that character into – you guessed it – a fox. But the execution of this plot is absolutely beautiful. I’ve heard of it before and am even more excited to read it now I’ve read your review!! In a parallel sibling storyline, Jules’ closest friend, Sam, is facing a different type of grief after his older brother returns from military service mourning the loss of his best friend, killed in in Afghanistan.

Once we had a full draft, we spent a long summer weekend together trying to hammer out the details of the plot and the structure of it. We wanted to provide our readers with characters whose hearts are as big as theirs.

I picked up this book because I needed a bit of lighter reading after finishing The Circle by Dave Eggers. So we decided then and there to begin our book, and that it would have a) two sisters, somehow separated, and b) a fox. Of course, both of us were working on other projects too, but this story took its own sweet time. It’s novels novels novels around here. Because I breathe.”, “Books are kind of like the sense of smell: inhale one page and memories come rushing back.”, Cracking the Cover is a website dedicated to picture, middle-grade and young-adult books. ( Log Out /  But those middle graders are so very vulnerable, and I think they’re also underestimated for what they are capable of. But that very first week, Kathi suggested we write an epistolary book together: two sisters writing back and forth. Highlight for spoiler: I wish the catamount had been a bigger part of the ending, and I wish it had been made clear that the catamount was Zeke’s spirit, as was implied. The book is unusual in that it was written by the two independently successful authors in a ‘back and forth’ manner over four years. Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Maybe a Fox is a book about heartbreak and loss, but more than that it is about resilience, how we as human beings suffer unimaginable grief and emerge, if not stronger, then deeper. Senna the fox has absorbed the spirit of Sylvie, and is drawn into a sequence of dramatic events that, whilst stretching the realms of possibility, are nicely written. Appelt (The Underneath, Keeper) and McGhee (Someday, Firefly Hollow) describe their collaboration as having two brains and two hearts.

January 5, 2017 December 13, 2016 • Luna's Little Library. (At least, that’s how I remember it.) Maybe a Fox is a book about heartbreak and loss, but more than that it is about resilience, how we as human beings suffer unimaginable grief and emerge, if not stronger, then deeper. It was a frigid January night in a dismal dorm, and my luggage had gotten lost. It may sound cheesy, especially considering this is a middle grade novel. Take me through the process of co-authoring. That’s probably what I liked best about the book, aside from the mythological aspect.

At first we traded chapters weekly. I think that Alison had a very good grasp on small Senna from the get-go, but it took both of us a while to really figure out who Jules was.

( Log Out /  Because I read. Jules has been through a lot in her young life, and so has her father and her best friend.

Next morning we ate breakfast together at a small table in the cafeteria, a two-seater between two tall pillars.

The setting is such a core aspect of this book, it’s almost a character itself. How did the individual characters of Jules and Senna develop? Stacking the Shelves: January | Sea Reads. I give this book 4 out of 5 stars because there was one specific plot detail that could have been extended and rounded out by the end, but it wasn’t.

Maybe a Fox is a deeply emotional middle grade book, dealing with relationships, burning wishes, and loss.