At the top of their dad’s “do not” list is “do not go near the Slip,” a dangerous section of the nearby river that surges underground. But 11-year-old Jules and 12-year-old Sylvie have gone to the Slip tons of times, usually to throw “wish rocks.” One morning, fast, impulsive Sylvie dashes off to throw a rock and falls in by accident, drowning. The loss is devastating. Jules relied on Sylvie for a lot of things, including memories of their mom, who died when they were young. Her grief is aching and raw, even as Sylvie sometimes drove her crazy, especially with her need to always run fast. Why? Sylvie never explained. Now it seems she never can. At the same time Sylvie died, a fox cub was born nearby. Terra is kennen, an animal spirit guide. The kit isn’t sure what her purpose is; she only knows she has one. As she grows, Terra senses it is tied to the girl she sometimes sees, and who sometimes sees her. A climax that is both extraordinary and immensely satisfying on the story level brings Jules and Terra together in a way that is fated, but the novel’s use of magical realism is never a means of avoiding the weight of grief. That the weight eventually begins to alight is not because of Terra, but because of time, and a discovery that confirms how much Sylvie loved Jules. (Ages 8–12)

Worlds collide in a spectacular way when Newbery and National Book Award finalist Kathi Appelt and Pulitzer Prize nominee and #1 New York Times bestseller Alison McGhee team up to create a fantastical, heartbreaking, and gorgeous tale about two sisters, a fox cub, and what happens when one of the sisters disappears forever.

Sylvie and Jules, Jules and Sylvie. Better than just sisters, better than best friends, they’d be identical twins if only they’d been born in the same year. And if only Sylvie wasn’t such a fast—faster than fast—runner. But Sylvie is too fast, and when she runs to the river they’re not supposed to go anywhere near to throw a wish rock just before the school bus comes on a snowy morning, she runs so fast that no one sees what happens…and no one ever sees her again. Jules is devastated, but she refuses to believe what all the others believe, that—like their mother—her sister is gone forever.

At the very same time, in the shadow world, a shadow fox is born—half of the spirit world, half of the animal world. She too is fast—faster than fast—and she senses danger. She’s too young to know exactly what she senses, but she knows something is very wrong. And when Jules believes one last wish rock for Sylvie needs to be thrown into the river, the human and shadow worlds collide.

Writing in alternate voices—one Jules’s, the other the fox’s—Kathi Appelt and Alison McGhee tell the searingly beautiful tale of one small family’s moment of heartbreak, a moment that unfolds into one that is epic, mythic, shimmering, and most of all, hopeful.