Since his father abandoned the family, 12-year-old Tod, his mother and teenage sisters have moved from Sydney to live wiht his grandmother in a town in Southern Australia. Tod is neither shy nor withdrawn, but living amidst strong personalities and unspoken feelings about his father's departure, he feels powerless and small. When he finds and buries a dead fox pup, he becomes fascinated with these wild animals that roam the edges of the city. Gradually Tod is drawn more and more deeply into a fox-like way of thinking, at first in his dreams, and then in his waking hours, until he is literally transformed. Tod knows deep, gnawing hunger in his fox-state, and sometimes danger and fear, but also the powerful certainty of instinct that entices and comforts him each time he retreats from the confusion of the human world. A fluid, beautifully written novel tells of a haunting and fragile existence for foxes and humans alike. (Ages 11-14)

Life for Tod gets turned on his head when he moves to suburban Adelaide, living with his grandmother, mother, and two older sisters. But things are made bearable by a fox he has seen in the quarries, and through his contact with the animal world he discovers new strengths and talents. Suggested level: intermediate, junior secondary.