Insta Review: Maybe a Fox, by Kathi Appelt and Alison McGhee

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This was the third book about a fox that I read this month. It’s interesting to me the way the fox has become such a popular vehicle for personification and imagery in literature. Each author does it differently – and I think, had I not recently finished the beautiful Pax, I would have liked Maybe a Fox even more. Jules and Sylvie are close knit sisters living with their father in rural Vermont. They are both quietly dealing with the loss of their mother in different ways – Jules buries herself in her rock collection while Sylvie runs and runs, always trying to move faster. One day Sylvie runs to a dangerous spot in the woods they’ve been forbidden to visit… and she never comes back. As she disappears, Senna the fox is born, and she knows right away that her spirit is linked with someone with unfinished business to take care of. I got tripped up in the verbiage of this book (see: the repetition of the word kennen) and struggled to transition smoothly back and forth from Jules’ to Senna’s point of view. There is quite a bit of mystery and spirituality about the book, and the whole thing feels a little bit dreamy. I wish I had more to say about Maybe a Fox, but I just… don’t. Brian seemed to like it, though 🐈#brianthecat

A post shared by Ms. Fitz (she/her) (@fitzbetweentheshelves) on Apr 22, 2017 at 7:15am PDT