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A Game of Fox & Squirrels
- Narrated by: Sarah Franco
- Length: 6 hrs and 4 mins
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A Game of Fox & Squirrels
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Publisher's Summary
Nebula Awards - Nominee, 2020
Andre Norton Award finalist Jenn Reese explores the often thin line between magic and reality, light and darkness in her enchanting middle grade stand-alone.
After an incident shatters their family, 11-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 best-selling 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)
What the critics say
“Beautifully written...Reese’s pairing of a realistic depiction of lived trauma with its allegorical-fantasy reflection proves stunningly effective.” (Kirkus, starred review)
"Reese spins a tale about child abuse that is touched with fantasy...a powerful tool for working through trauma." (Booklist)
"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)
Nebula Awards - Nominee - 2020
What listeners say about A Game of Fox & Squirrels
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 2024-04-12
I needed this book as a kid
This is a difficult book (tw for abuse that happened off-stage, just before the book opens, but for which there are flashbacks) but it is worth it. The way the book explores the character of the fox--how abusers operate, the tricks they use to gain and keep power/control--in a children's tale is stunning. I had so much empathy for the main child character and for the characters around her, as she tries to navigate her changing world, tries to "make things right" and to appease the fox. The use of the game in the title and the game's rules interspersed as commentary throughout the narrative is great. Family relationships and sibling relationship in particular was done well, with a light touch. And at the very end, in the final installment of discussing the "rules", I'm not gonna lie, I cried (in a good way).
This book, in the form of a modern fairy tale with unexpectedly poignant intergenerational elements, helps people recognize what abuse looks like, what manipulation looks like, what narcissistic control looks and feels like... and, countering all that, what healthy family can look like, how to build it instead. Using the structure of the game and the squirrel or human characters, it even deals gently with the topic of enablers and capitulators to abuse, and with not being able to escape right away--or feeling like you need to go back. It unabashedly talks about what surviving can look like, until real help is available. I wish it was in every school library, for whichever kid needs to stumble on it. And for all the adults who might still need it too.
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