Scary Stories for Young Foxes: The City

July 1, 2021
New foxes experience new horrors. The travails of Mia and Uly in Heidicker's Newbery Honor novel, Scary Stories for Young Foxes (2019), have become cautionary, inspirational folklore for a new vulpine generation. Three young foxes come across an injured cousin, who spins them tales of fresh horror. Readers don't have to be familiar with the first volume to catch the thread of this sequel, and while there are some carry-over references (the yellow stench of rabies, a propagandized version of Beatrix Potter's appearance), the terrors here are new and mostly a product of civilization. Oleo, n� O-370, is a fox with all the wildness bred out of him, and he and his family live in the relative safety of wire cages, heated by lamps, until they are turned into fox-fur coats. When Oleo escapes, he meets a family of orphaned, urban foxes whom he enlists in a quest to save his captured kin. Heidicker's writing continues to shine, his poetic language depicting scenarios that will be too much for sensitive readers but will more than satisfy those with a taste for gore and tragedy. At times the action becomes more burden than forward momentum, but on the whole, this is a worthy follow-up, with a triumphant end attempting to answer the eternal quandary of safety versus freedom. Final art not seen. A fur-raising adventure. (Fiction. 9-14)

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July 1, 2021
Grades 3-6 Heidicker follow his 2019 Newbery Honor-winning Scary Stories for Young Foxes with another chilling adventure relayed as a series of stories, this time imparted to three fox kits by a bloody, dying stranger. The tale this fox tells begins on a farm, where foxes live safe and contented lives. Yet, kit O-370 (so named for his ear tag) craves adventure, so when he finds a way out of his cage, he takes it. After a terrifying discovery, O-370 joins up with a tough wild vixen and her three adopted kits as they make their way into the city. A rabies outbreak among the city's dogs quickly throws the foxes' survival into question, and Heidicker provides quite a horror show as the foxes fight to stay alive, which is further ramped up by Wu's eerie graphite illustrations. Readers will white-knuckle their way through a vet's treacherous office, a dog-food plant, and a sewer, but loyalty and friendship prove sturdy stuff for readers and foxes alike. A frightfully accomplished companion novel that stands on its own.

COPYRIGHT(2021) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

August 1, 2021

Gr 4 Up-Heidicker, a Newbery Honor recipient, continues his tale-within-a-tale of curious foxes listening to a horrific, cautionary account of survival told by a mysterious storyteller. Heidicker mixes characters from the first book-Mia and Uly, Mr. Scratch, Golgathursh, Miss Vix, curse of yellow stench-with newcomers such as Fern, the farmer, Cakeface and Treacle, 0-370 and R(A)-211 in new stories about inquisitive foxes longing for adventure. The foxes will discover if the city truly is a paradox of paradise and death worth giving up two meals a day. Eerie pencil sketch illustrations combined with a hauntingly antiquated way of speaking (and some modern slang) allows readers to empathize and visualize the world through the foxes' perspective. The foxes struggle to explain or piece together universal truths, but aim to protect themselves and help others along the way. This unique title intends to inspire thought about the consequences of human actions on animals and the environment, and paints humans in a negative light that is more terrifying than the first installment. While all humans are not evil, who to trust is a theme throughout. Readers are inspired to research treatment of rabies in foxes and Heidicker's work could be used as a teaching tool about the importance of vaccinations. While the foxes' story has closure in The City, Heidicker paves the way for more stories to come. VERDICT Haunting and frightening nature tales of foxes in the wild and in a city, perfect for fans of Roald Dahl's Fantastic Mr. Fox or Sara Pennypacker's Pax; would be a wonderful text for practicing inference skills.-Laura Dooley-Taylor, Lake Zurich M.S. North, IL

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