A Game of Fox & Squirrels, dances between fantasy and drama

At first glance A Game of Fox & Squirrels could look like a story that’s akin to Jumanji. There is a board game, some fanciful, talking animals and a couple of pre-teen and teen girls. All of these elements exist, but the crux of A Game of Fox & Squirrels is rooted in drama. As long as middle school readers are looking for a well written book that’s steeped in allegory, with the very real topic of abuse, then they’ll enjoy it.

Granted, the above might be a lot to pack in, so let’s break it down. Sam and her teenage sister have been forced to move from Los Angeles to live with their aunt in rural Oregon. The book refers to an incident for a large portion of it before the curtain is revealed a bit more to let readers know that it was some form of abuse. The details aren’t covered in the book, but it’s obvious that it was incredibly traumatic, Sam still thinks that her dad can be redeemed and her aunt knows more to the story then she’s letting on.

Early on when Sam arrives she finds an old card game. The cards are a bit bent, but she’s attracted to the graphics and something is drawing her towards them. Then, one day after she’s made a pillow fort a rogue and handsome fox appears in it. He proceeds to tell her all manner of stories, most importantly of all is that there is a magic acorn that can grant any wish. More than anything, Sam wants to go back to L.A., where she’s confident that her dad is waiting for her and all of this unpleasantness will be behind her.  

When the fox lays out the challenges that she must accomplish in order to get the acorn, she’s a bit put off. Granted, she wants the magic wish, but is it really worth stealing from her aunt or doing anything else that might hurt those around her? Yeah, she doesn’t think that she’ll be in Oregon long anyway, but she doesn’t really want to hurt people or animals.

The pacing of A Game of Fox & Squirrels is very good. It’s broken up evenly to where the more fantasy type elements effortlessly blend into the real life happenings. As the book approaches its climax Sam is obviously in full on fantasy, but the world around her is real.

Ultimately, that’s what surprised me most about the book. While I enjoyed the fantasy elements, the dramatic moments of the story kept me glued in so that I really cared about what happens and how she deals with this fox who was becoming more conniving. Middle school readers and up who enjoy a heavy slice of real life with their fantasy will be drawn into this book. Likewise, it will bridge some of those fantasy readers who want to handle a little bit of human darkness.

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