The Midnight Fox

by Betsy Byars

Tom is not the outdoorsy type. He reluctantly goes along with all the sports and activities his parents arrange, but really enjoys exercising his imagination, especially with his best friend. They make up dramatic headlines and news articles, otherworldly incidents to circumvent anything they don't want to do, questionnaires that will explain your personality and the like. Pretty funny, and it felt very real to what goes on inside a boy's head (or at least, so I would imagine).

Tom resents being left at his aunt's farm for the summer while his parents travel, far from the city and his friend. He mopes around until one day happens to see a fox on the edge of a field. It is a melanistic phase- a black fox. Tom is captivated at the sight of the fox and hopes to see it again. He starts wandering around the woods with that intention, eventually finding the fox's den. But when something starts killing his aunt's turkeys and chickens, his uncle makes a plan to hunt down the fox...

It was a pretty good story. This one came to my attention because I saw it was compared to One-Eyed Cat. There are some distinct similarities, especially in the overall mood and how well the personality of the boy is written.

Borrowed from the public library.

Rating: 3/5                134 pages, 1968