By: Christian McKay Heidicker
Rate: very good
This book for young children is wonderful, and it describes friendship. Seven little foxes sit around an old storyteller and listen to her terrifying stories. And here they are:
Mia is a young fox whose siblings are infected by the “yellow”, which is a disease that kills the foxes. Mia and her mom escape, but Mia is caught by a greedy human who wants to make her in a story. Mia’s mother gives up, thinking Mia is dead even though she is not, and runs away. Mia is in despair-until Uly comes and rescues her.
Uly is a three legged fox kit who is teased by his siblings-or is it just them? His father (Mr. Scratch) is, as he later learns, evil and wants his life, because he is a cripple. When Mr. Scratch comes to kill him, he barely escapes and loses his mother. But when he finds Mia and rescues him, the two kits learn to trust each other, and they become not only friends but also like siblings.
Mia and Uly later are separated, and Mia finds Mr. Scratch, thinking he is a good guy, while Uly hides down. Mia slowly realizes the truth about Mr. Scratch, and she is excited when she realizes that Uly’s mom is with Mr. Scratch. She is horrified that Uly’s mom actually turned Uly in and then throws him down the cliff. Yet she finds Uly still alive, and asks him how. Uly explains that his mom and he had agreed to let her mom pretend to hate him and throw him down the cliff, but they saw a spot to throw him where he would not die. Mia and Uly have many other smaller adventures during the story, but I have no time to explain all of them.
At the end of the story, there is only one little fox of the seven left that did not run away from fear: the youngest one. Then, the author reveals that the storyteller is actually Mia, and Uly was hiding behind the whole time. Mia realizes that the little fox that is left is her descendant. I like this scary story about friendship and bravery.
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