Marika McCoola, children’s department manager at the Odyssey Bookshop in South Hadley, Mass., spotlights a middle-grade novel she looks forward to selling.
I was recently handed a copy of Tricia Springstubb’s What Happened on Fox Street (HarperCollins/Balzer + Bray, Sept.), which Anne DeCourcey, my HarperCollins rep, summed up as “the blue-collar Penderwicks.” This is certainly the quickest way of describing Springstubb’s book, but I don’t think it will take long to become known by its own name; copies of What Happened on Fox Street are going to fly from person to person.
Mo and her younger sister live on Fox Street with their dad. Mo defines her life by Fox Street: her varying relationships with her neighbors, the rhythms of the neighborhood, and the memories people have of her mother. This dead-end street has been a self-contained universe for Mo, so when changes come to the neighborhood, she must redefine both Fox Street and herself. Through these changes—the good, the bad, and the downright difficult—one thing sustains Mo: the possibility of someday seeing a real fox on Fox Street.
Though the narrative is firmly planted in the realm of realistic fiction, Mo experiences moments of real-life wonder and awe that feel truly magical. She faces difficult situations, such as moving, taking care of her younger sister, and trying to be a good friend, but she emerges with bits of wisdom and a changed view of the world. Mo’s realizations are wonderfully astute, giving the novel wisdom beyond its middle-grade years.
