Alana's Favorites - September 2024 📚

Hi all! I’m Alana, and I’m the Adult Programs Coordinator for Ida Rupp Library. My blog posts will consist of older favorites and recommendations along with new finds in the wide world of entertainment. I never limit myself based on audience or genre, so whatever your preference, I hope I can help you find your next watch, read, listen, or play-through!

This month, I have possibly the quickest reading recommendation with Fox 8 by George Saunders. Fox 8 is sweet and powerful, harrowing and hopeful, and told from the point-of-view of an innocent fox; following the fable of the titular character as he learns to communicate with humans and realizes that lurking dangers are far closer to home than he or his pack know. 

When the pack’s food supply is cut off by a newly-built shopping mall, Fox 8 is the one brave enough to venture out and try to find answers - or at least a meal - while the rest of the foxes follow the advice of their leader and stay put. On his adventures, Fox 8 comes across an open window where children are listening to bedtime stories. Intrigued, he decides to listen in as well, and this allows him to slowly understand and even speak the “Yuman” language, and is impressed with the human ability to tell stories. 

He uses this new skill to sneak into the new mall (ironically named Foxview Crossing) with a friend from his pack. They have a lovely time eating food scraps and speaking with the “Yumans”, but disaster strikes as they try to make their way back home. Fox 8 is devastated, instantly disillusioned with the power and smarts of the humans as he tries to come to terms with the random cruelty that they sometimes express. None of the stories he’d heard or previous interactions could have prepared him for an experience like this. 

The book is short (less than 50 pages) and features a few cute illustrations, but the message is clear and concise, even through the odd spellings of various words: humans cause great harm, both actively and passively, to their surroundings and to each other. Fox 8 asks humankind to look inward and reflect: are we truly okay with the pain and destruction we’ve brought upon the land and its inhabitants? Do our shortcomings and acts of wanton cruelty reflect us as a species? How can we be more kind to those species we see as “lesser”? 

If this story interests you, it can be found on Libby as an eBook or placed on hold in person, over the phone, or through our online catalog. As always, feel free to reach out and tell me your thoughts if you decide to give Fox 8 a try. Happy reading!