Good evening, humans.
SCARY STORIES FOR YOUNG FOXES is out today!
Because you don’t have whiskers or tails, great senses of smells or four paws to escape with, I wanted to give you some tools to prepare you for your journey ahead.
First, some warnings from professional reviewers, who out of the kindness of their hearts, spoil the ending:
“. . . animal lovers might need to be assured of the books happy ending.” —Bulletin Center for Children’s Books
“The stomach-clenching fear and suspense are resolved by a happy ending.” —Kirkus Reviews
“The ending of this book is happy, but in such a way that you understand that that happiness might be fleeting.” —Betsy Bird, School Library Journal
“Kids able to brave the harrowing adventures of Mia and Uly are in for a chilling roller coaster of a read.” —Booklist (starred review)
If you don’t trust professionals, here are some Goodreads reviews:
“Be warned, these stories are quite scary . . .”
“Be aware that these stories really are scary.”
“A word to the wise- these stories are not for children who are faint of heart.”
“Rabies, taxidermy, murderous badgers, merciless fox dads coming back from the dead...this story is not for the weak of heart.”
“I had no idea how scary it was to be a fox.”
“I had to keep reminding myself that I am not a young fox, and badgers and steel traps and humans are not *that* scary.”
And three of my personal favorites:
“Try not to get too attached to minor characters.”
“THIS IS FOR KIDS??”
“Spoiler alert: I cried.”
Here’s a taste of the adventure so you can know what you’re getting yourself into.
And here’s a soothing song to play in the background while you read:
If you buy the book this week, I’ll send you a handy bookmark with specific survival instructions (these are just the first half):
Art by Junyi Wu
If you need a break from the horror, here’s a video of some happy fox kits playing in the wild:
And finally, those of you who are finished with the adventure might be happy to hear that I’m hard at work on the sequel, which will star our heroes’ descendants, take place in a city, and include more modern horror tales.
Art by Junyi Wu