I received a copy of this book from Netgalley/the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

My oldest daughter is almost nine years old, and she has been helping me by reading the middle grade ARCs with me. We recently read Maybe a Fox, which is a collaboration between Kathi Appelt and Alison McGhee.

Sylvie and Jules are sisters growing up in Vermont. They live with their father, and they have a shared best friend named Sam- Super Friend Sam. Jules loves collecting rocks, and Sylvie loves running.   One day, Sylvie runs so fast that she disappears, and Jules doesn’t know what to do without her beloved sister.

At the same time, a little baby fox is born. She knows that she is here for a purpose, and as she acclimates herself to the world, she tries to discover what that purpose is.

I cried several times while reading Maybe a Fox with my daughter, and she cried too. The prose is so eloquent and thoughtfully written. There were moments when my daughter looked up at me as I was reading and told me that this book was “so sad”, but not once did she want to stop reading.

I would absolutely recommend Maybe a Fox. I think that in order to have a full appreciation of the book, it’s important for the reader to go into the story knowing as little as possible about the plot. This is an absolutely heartbreakingly beautiful story of loss, love, new beginnings, and most importantly- of hope. My daughter and I will be thinking about wish rocks for a long time after this.