A Game of Fox & Squirrels

by Jenn Reese Narrated by Sarah Franco

Overview

Andre Norton Award finalist Jenn Reese explores the often thin line between magic and reality, light and darkness in her enchanting middle grade standalone.

After an incident shatters their family, eleven-year old Samantha and her older sister Caitlin are sent to live in rural Oregon with an aunt they've never met. Sam wants nothing more than to go back to the way things were... before she spoke up about their father's anger.

When Aunt Vicky gives Sam a mysterious card game called "A Game of Fox & Squirrels," Sam falls in love with the animal characters, especially the charming trickster fox, Ashander. Then one day Ashander shows up in Sam's room and offers her an adventure and a promise: find the Golden Acorn, and Sam can have anything she desires.

But the fox is hiding rules that Sam isn't prepared for, and her new home feels more tempting than she'd ever expected. As Sam is swept up in the dangerous quest, the line between magic and reality grows thin. If she makes the wrong move, she'll lose far more than just a game.

Perfect for fans of Barbara O'Connor, Lauren Wolk, and Ali Benjamin, A Game of Fox & Squirrels is a stunning, heartbreaking novel about a girl who finds the light in the darkness... and ultimately discovers the true meaning of home.

A Macmillan Audio production from Henry Holt and Company

"Brings to life, viscerally, what it is like to live in fear of abuse-even after the abuse itself is over. But there is magic here too, and the promise of a better future that comes with learning to let people who care about you into your world." -Alan Gratz, New York Times-bestselling author of Refugee

“A captivating and touching story... both whimsical and emotionally-sometimes frighteningly-compelling.” -Ingrid Law, Newbery Honor-winning author of Savvy

"Magically creative and deeply honest, A Game of Fox & Squirrels merges games and grimness in a fantasy tale that tells the truth." -Elana K. Arnold, Printz Honor-winning author of Damsel and A Boy Called Bat

Editorial Reviews

NOVEMBER 2020 - AudioFile

Sarah Franco portrays the ache, confusion, and fear of 11-year-old Sam as she processes the trauma of past abuse. After being relocated to her aunt’s house, Sam finds a fascinating card game. She discovers that the fox and squirrels in the game are real, and if she wins, the fox, Ashander, will grant her a wish. But, as the timid squirrels remind her, the game has strict rules that involve placating Ashander and submitting to his increasingly cruel demands. With a slow pace and a deliberate tone that becomes more animated as the plot gains momentum, Franco seamlessly pulls listeners from Sam’s fearful inner reality into an allegorical fantasy world and back to the unfamiliar safety of her new life with caring adults. S.C. © AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine

From the Publisher

A Evanston Public Library Best of the Year Selection

A Bank Street College of Education Best Children’s Books of the Year 2021 Selection

“Beautifully written...Reese’s pairing of a realistic depiction of lived trauma with its allegorical-fantasy reflection proves stunningly effective.” –Kirkus, Starred Review

"A poignant fantastical allegory... that presents generational trauma and its echoes unflinchingly." –Publishers Weekly, Starred Review

"Reese spins a tale about child abuse that is touched with fantasy...a powerful tool for working through trauma." –Booklist

"An engaging blend of genres...dealing with realistic issues that will be a solid addition to elementary or middle school libraries." –School Library Journal

"It’s satisfying to watch Sam move from obedience born of self-preservation to being able to defy Ashander in order to protect others...the sympathetic heroine makes this a likable read with broad appeal." —The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

"Once in an age, you read a book that is so true and so lovely that it's as if your own bruised and hopeful heart had come sailing into your hands in book form. A Game of Fox & Squirrels is that book for me. It is perfect. Sometimes magic happens: we needed this story in our world, and now it is here." —Anne Nesbet, author of The Cabinet of Earths and Daring Darleen

"Hauntingly beautiful, funny, dark and true, and so full of magic and heart. This story will stay with me forever." —Stephanie Burgis, author of The Dragon with a Chocolate Heart

"Jenn Reese is masterful in her delicate rendering of a vulnerable child navigating the boundaries of family loyalty. The story will quietly burrow its way into the hearts of the children who need it, inspiring bravery and truth. Unforgettable." —Tracy Holczer, author of Everything Else in the Universe

"An important, moving book about resilience in the face of abuse, and about emerging from a very dark place into hope." —Sarah Prineas, author of Dragonfell

"The way Jenn Reese illuminates a path to hope through dark times is what makes this book essential reading." —Greg van Eekhout, author of Voyage of the Dogs

“A Game of Fox & Squirrels overflows with courage, and it’s willing to share.” —William Alexander, National Book Award-winning author of Goblin Secrets

NOVEMBER 2020 - AudioFile

Sarah Franco portrays the ache, confusion, and fear of 11-year-old Sam as she processes the trauma of past abuse. After being relocated to her aunt’s house, Sam finds a fascinating card game. She discovers that the fox and squirrels in the game are real, and if she wins, the fox, Ashander, will grant her a wish. But, as the timid squirrels remind her, the game has strict rules that involve placating Ashander and submitting to his increasingly cruel demands. With a slow pace and a deliberate tone that becomes more animated as the plot gains momentum, Franco seamlessly pulls listeners from Sam’s fearful inner reality into an allegorical fantasy world and back to the unfamiliar safety of her new life with caring adults. S.C. © AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine

Kirkus Reviews

★ 2020-01-21
A preteen confronts the child abuse that’s shaped her world through a mysterious game, alluring and terrifying, with rules that are all too familiar.

After Sam, 11, panicked and revealed the child abuse that left older sister Caitlin with a broken arm, the girls were sent to live with Aunt Vicky and her wife, Hannah, in rural Oregon. (The girls and their aunt are white; Hannah has a Chinese surname.) While Caitlin, 13, gratefully adapts, Sam wants only to return to their parents. A gift from Vicky, the Game of Fox & Squirrels, could help with that. The squirrels and fox on the cards, she discovers, have real-life counterparts. The flamboyant fox Ashander feeds Sam’s hopes, testing her loyalty; she must earn her right to go home. What begins as a hero’s journey degenerates into cruel demands. His minions, three timid squirrels, urge Sam to placate him, but she realizes she must look elsewhere to find courage to resist. Sam moves between the game world—with its chillingly familiar rules and seductive, but invariably broken, promises—and the real, but unfamiliar, world of peaceable, dependable adults. Reese’s pairing of a realistic depiction of lived trauma with its allegorical-fantasy reflection proves stunningly effective in conveying PTSD. The abuse is portrayed indirectly, through its long-term effect on victims. Fear digs deep grooves in the psyche—Sam and Caitlin are on perpetual alert. Beautifully written, this is noeasy read; crucially, an author’s note addresses real-life abuseand directs readers to the book’s website, which offers resourcesfor help.

A haunting tale that brings the traumatic aftermath of family violence into focus with unsparing clarity. (Fiction. 10-14)

Product Details

BN ID:	2940177710532
Publisher:	Macmillan Audio
Publication date:	10/13/2020
Edition description:	Unabridged
Age Range:	10 - 13 Years

Videos