What does it mean to be truly human? When orphaned fox kit Tom is transformed by a witch’s spell into a 12-year-old boy, he’s given a deadline of summer’s end to become fully human. Befriended by fellow orphan Nora, he spends the summer enjoying normal human activities, always fearing that he won’t discover how to become fully human in time, and unaware that soon he and Nora will be fighting for their lives...
Plot
I loved the idea of this story: a fox is turned into a young boy by a witch and must discover the meaning of being human. And while the book starts off with a bang and high tensions, once Tom becomes a boy, the pacing comes to a halt as he struggles to understand where he is and what is going on. The plot meanders from activity to activity as Tom becomes friends with Nora and it’s not until well into the book that we get a central line of tension. I would have loved to see the excitement that the reader experiences when Tom was a fox translate over to his human world.
Characters
The main character Tom, is a fun protagonist, although difficult to connect to since he’s so confused by everything related to humans. Nora is a great character to play against him, balancing out his fear with excitement at every turn. Out of all of them, the witch was the most interesting to me. She has an interesting motivation that I enjoyed discovering along with Tom and Nora. The author introduces a “narrator” character early on, which I found to be a distracting element to the storytelling.
Setting
The story of this novel gives the author a unique opportunity to explore the world of people, as Tom explores an unknown world that would seem completely mundane to us. Because of this, the author has created an exciting setting without having to do any excessive world-building. I also enjoyed the magical elements that are weaved through this book, especially in Tom’s relationship with the witch.
My Recommendation
Fox in the City is Daniel Cabera’s debut novel. This book has an interesting premise and a one-of-a-kind approach to world-building. However, the pacing was fairly slow and it took a while for the characters to find their drive and central plot. Additionally, this book was marketed as a Young Adult Fantasy, but after reading the story, it’d be best advertised to Middle Grade and may not hold much interest for older teen readers.
