School Library Journal
Gr 5-9 Told by Joan, a recent transplant from Connecticut to Northern California in 1972, this tale embodies the transformative power of both the written word and friendship. While trekking through the woods near her house, the 11-year-old stumbles upon Sarah, who calls herself Fox. The two girls become inseparable companions in exploring the outdoors and their imaginations. They overcome disparities in background: Joan has a more traditional suburban life with a mother who tries to compensate for a sour, unhappy father; Fox lives with her father, a science-fiction author, in a run-down house, and prefers to believe that the mother who abandoned her years ago did so because she was transformed into a fox. Joan can't penetrate Fox's outsider persona at school, but away from class, they compose a contest-winning story of two girls questing in a magical forest. Their read-aloud performance at a San Francisco ceremony, wearing full lipstick war paint to make them feel suitably wild, gains them admittance to a summer writing program at Berkeley. Their avant-garde instructor urges them to pay attention and ask questions, helping them become stronger writers and more confident people, able to deal with difficult family challenges. Supporting characters are fully formed and intriguing. Murphy evokes her setting with skill and plays out themes of creativity and self-expression with grace and intensity. Readers will applaud the metamorphoses of Fox and Joan, who come to understand themselves and others through their art.-Suzanne Gordon, Peachtree Ridge High School, Suwanee, GA
Kirkus Reviews
Large, generous and creative characters populate this deeply satisfying novel that tells the story of "Newt" and "Fox" and how they learn to take on the challenges of their lives. In 1972, Joan's (Newt) father gets a new job in San Francisco and relocates his family from Connecticut to the suburban California town of Danville. Joan sets about exploring and meets Sarah (Fox). The two immediately form a friendship and bond as they share their inner conflicts: Joan's parents argue constantly (readers might grow to really dislike the father and will be surprised at the compassionate treatment he gets), and Sarah's mother, who had abandoned the family years before, returns to ask her husband, Gus, for a divorce. In the meantime, the girls have written a short story together for a class project, which Joan submits to a contest without the knowledge of her teacher. They win and earn themselves spots in a unique writing workshop run by free spirit Verla Volante. There, Verla's assignments and writing advice (which really is life advice) assist the girls in their self-exploration and help them achieve the insight and personal strength they need to triumph. A terrific mix of imagination, insight, character inventiveness and kindness create the kind of read that nourishes young minds and hearts. (Fiction. 10-14)
FEB/MAR 08 - AudioFile
"It's a different world when you see it through some one else's eyes," says the mellow-voiced poet, Vera, as she teaches gifted students in a summer writing workshop. Sarah and Joan, nicknamed Fox and Newt, are 12-year-old students whose world is transformed by the class and by each other. Coleen Marlo's presentation of tomboy Fox, and her gruff-voiced motorcycle-riding, sci-fi writing father, is neatly juxtaposed with her portrayal of newcomer Joan, and her more conventional, yet troubled family. The girls write and explore woods and wildlife together, supporting each other amid parental conflicts, which threaten their serentiy. Marlo ratchets up family tensions while sustaining the sense of wonder evoked in the girls' moments of self-discovery. D.P.D. © AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine
