Middle Grade Monday and Audio Review: Scary Stories for Young Foxes by Christian McKay Heidicker

Hardcover Image: Macmillan

Scary Stories for Young Foxes by Christian McKay Heidicker (HC illustrated by Junyi Wu.) Unabridged audiobook, ~7 hours. Read by the author. Recorded Books, August, 2020. (Review of e-audio downloaded from the public library. Own HC)

Happy Monday! My spring break is over! It was relaxing and filled with books, long dog walks, yard clean-up and family visits.

Middle Grade Monday features Scary Stories for Young Foxes by Christian McKay Heidicker and illustrated by Junyi Wu. This collection of connected scary stories is not for the faint of heart. Seven fox kits disobey their mother and trek into the woods to visit an old vixen.They want to hear her scary stories, and she delivers. First, she tells the story of Mia, who survives an attack by her teacher, Miss Vix, who has rabies and infects Mia's other siblings and forcing Mia and her mother to flee. Next, she tells the story of Uly, the lone male kit born in a litter of seven, but born with a deformed front paw. His sisters not only tease him mercilessly over it, but also steal his food in order to starve him. As each story draws to a close, there is one less fox kit remaining to listen until a single kit remains. 

These are scary!. Not ghost scary, but real world, bad stuff can happen scary! The author's narration was understated and well-paced. Listening deprived me of the illustrations though. 

Scary Stories for Young Foxes was the author's middle grade debut and published in 2019. It earned a 2020 Newbery Honor, made the ALA Notables List and was a Booklist Editor's Choice. Last year, Scary Stories for Young Foxes: the City was published.

Teen Tuesday and Audiobook Review: Birthday: a novel by Meredith Russo

Image: Macmillan

Birthday: a novel by Meredith Russo. Unabridged e-audiobook read by Dana Aliya Levinson. Macmillan Young Listeners/ Macmillan Audio, May, 2019. 9781250129840. (Review of e-audiobook borrowed from public library.)

Teen Tuesday features Birthday: a novel by Meredith Russo. This unique dual narrative is told episodically, yearly in fact, on the birthday that both Eric and Morgan share. They were born in the same hospital on the same day and when a snowstorm kept the two families in hospital longer than expected, the parents bonded and became friends. Eric and Morgan became best friends. But dynamics are shifting by their thirteenth birthday. Morgan's mother died the previous year. She really was the glue that held the parents together and Morgan's dad's grief is fraying the edges of what is left. Morgan has a secret that he wants to tell Eric but can't. Morgan's not even sure what there is to tell. At thirteen, Morgan just doesn't have the words, and so, flounders in grief and confusion and doesn't always make the safest of choices. This powerful read is for the maturest of teen readers - readers with open hearts, open minds and much compassion for those who do not fit society's neat little boxes.

I read this book with my ears and with my heart in my throat for much of it. I absolutely ached for Morgan and was terrified for her. The narration by new-to-me narrator, Dana Aliya Levinson was engaging, though there were times when I couldn't tell whether it was Morgan or Eric speaking. 

As the story wound to it's conclusion, I was confused to see that there was still over forty minutes left on the recording and wondered where the story could possibly go. Turns out, there was an interesting and informative interview - conversation, really between the narrator and the author. Certainly not to be missed.

Birthday: a novel belongs in every teen collection.

#tbt: Let It Snow by John Green, Maureen Johnson and Lauren Myracle

Let It Snow by John Green, Maureen Johnson and Lauren Myracle. 352 p. Speak/ Penguin Group (USA), 2008. 9780142412145. (own)

#tbt features Let It Snow by John Green, Maureen Johnson and Lauren Myracle. Let It Snow is a romance that consists of three interconnected novellas featuring teens who are snowbound over the holidays. Break-ups and make-ups, crossed signals and humor abound. What else would one expect from these YA favorites? Let It Snow  was published in 2008. It was also optioned for film, which released on Netflix this past November.