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Foxlight
From the author of October, October , winner of the Yoto Carnegie Medal, comes a heartbreaking and heart-warming story about sisterhood, found family and accepting love in the most unusual and unknown places.
Fen and Rey were found curled up small and tight in the fiery fur of the foxes at the very edge of the wildlands. Fen is loud and fierce and free. She feels a connection to foxes and a calling from the wild that she's desperate to return to. Rey is quiet and shy and an expert on nature. She reads about the birds, feeds the lands and nurtures the world around her.
They are twin sisters. Different and the same. Separate and connected. They will always have each other, even if they don't have a mother and don't know their beginning. But they do want answers. Answers to who their mother is and where she might be. What their story is and how it began. So when a fox appears late one night at the house, Fen and Rey see it as a sign - it's here to lead them to their truth, find their real family and fill the missing piece they have felt since they were born.
But the wildlands are exactly wild. They are wicked and cruel and brutal and this journey will be harder and more life changing than either Fen or Rey ever imagined ...
Fen and Rey were found curled up small and tight in the fiery fur of the foxes at the very edge of the wildlands. Fen is loud and fierce and free. She feels a connection to foxes and a calling from the wild that she's desperate to return to. Rey is quiet and shy and an expert on nature. She reads about the birds, feeds the lands and nurtures the world around her.
They are twin sisters. Different and the same. Separate and connected. They will always have each other, even if they don't have a mother and don't know their beginning. But they do want answers. Answers to who their mother is and where she might be. What their story is and how it began. So when a fox appears late one night at the house, Fen and Rey see it as a sign - it's here to lead them to their truth, find their real family and fill the missing piece they have felt since they were born.
But the wildlands are exactly wild. They are wicked and cruel and brutal and this journey will be harder and more life changing than either Fen or Rey ever imagined ...
258 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 28, 2023
About the author
Katya Balen
18 books149 followersKatya Balen is a British author of children's literature. She was born in 1989, in London. Her novel
October, October
won the 2022 Carnegie Medal. Her work has also been nominated for the Branford Boase Award and the Wainwright Prize for Children's Writing on Nature and Conservation.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 63 reviews
September 30, 2023
In a Nutshell: A middle-grade novel focussing on a pair of eleven-year-old twins and their quest to look for their mom in the wildlands using a fox as a guide. Outstanding in nature descriptions, but the plot itself, being somewhat abstract, left me with mixed feelings.
Story Synopsis:
Bookish Yays:
🌳 I liked the characterisation of the two girls. As both of them are contrary in personalities, they bring a nice balance of adventure and caution to the story. Their connection is best seen when they play the ‘Imagine; game together. Though Fen was the narrator of the story, I loved Rey more as her quiet demeanour and bookish creativity won my heart.
🌳 Unlike many MG novels, this one depicts the caregiver at the children’s home in a positive light. Lissa is really good with all the kids and does the best she can with the limited resources.
🌳 The portrayal of the children’s home is also quite sweet, possibly a bit too perfect to be true. There were no bullies, and all the children did their best by each other and by Lissa. Though there are mentions of issues in food quantity and of their tumbledown house, these don’t get much prominence.
🌳 Fen and Rey’s quest into the wildlands was full of adventure. Right from making fire to foraging for food to watching out for animals, the girls went through quite a lot within a few days. Of course, there was a lot of luck on their side as well, which helped them much.
🌳 Katya Balen’s writing always depicts her love of nature, and this story is no exception. The descriptions of all the natural elements - the wilderness, the river, the night sky – are stunningly vivid. It almost felt like I was right there with Fen and Rey, living in the picturesque bush and wondering what to do next. This was the best feature of this story.
🌳 Love the cover illustration as it suits the story perfectly.
Bookish Nays:
🌵 I wish there had been more of Lissa and other characters in the book. A major chunk of the story has only Fen and Rey in the scenes, and this becomes boring after a while. Fen’s first person narration, with its excessive focus on the same few topics, also gets repetitive.
🌵 The foray into the wilderness was brave but also dangerous. The parent in me was a bit disappointed that they weren’t reprimanded even a little for risking their lives by running away without telling anyone.
🌵 Honestly, had I read this book as a middle-grader, I am pretty sure I would have been bored. The combination of too much description and too little action hasn’t worked for me till date. Even when there were some risky scenes on page, the first person narration and its monologues slowed down the intensity of the thrill.
🌵 As a child, I always preferred to have all the answers provided by the end of a story. But this book left me with more questions than answers. The background detailing is also very vague. Is the book historical or contemporary? Or maybe set in the near future when the world is not so green anymore because of climate change? How does Lissa manage to feed so many kids? Why were the houses set so far apart? Was the fox imaginary, or did Fen imagine her connect with the animal? Also, Fen and Rey are twins, but there’s no direct reference to them as such in the entire book. I’d have loved to see more of the twin connection in the story than just have a mention of it in the blurb.
This is my third Katya Balen book, but it ended up my least favourite of the ones I have read. (The remaining two have been five-star experiences.) The adult in me enjoyed the beauty of its prose, but as it is a book for middle-graders, I am trying to rate the book based on how I would have enjoyed it at that age. Unfortunately, the answer is quite clear – this would have been just a one-time semi-interesting read for me during my tweens, which is why I am rounding my rating down.
Recommended to MG lovers of adventure who would love an adventurous story with a wild natural setting but not many clear answers.
3.5 stars.
My thanks to Bloomsbury Publishing Plc (UK & ANZ) and NetGalley for the DRC of “Foxlight”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Connect with me through:
My Blog | The StoryGraph | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter
Story Synopsis:
Fen and Rey are just two of many children staying in a crumbling house for ‘Found Children.’ Their caregiver Lissa has told them of how they were both found as babies, curled up amid foxes at the edge of the wildlands. Of all the kids in the home, they are the only two with no details about their birth mother.
Fen and Rey are opposite in nature but share a strong bond, Fen has an especially wild imagination, and she always senses a pull from the foxes, wishing to return to the wildlands to search for her mother. When a fox appears at their house late one night, Fen interprets it as a call, and with Rey tagging along, embarks upon an adventurous quest to locate her mother, as she firmly believes that the fox was sent by her mom. Will the two girls be able to find what they are looking for?
The story comes to us in Fen’s first person perspective.
Bookish Yays:
🌳 I liked the characterisation of the two girls. As both of them are contrary in personalities, they bring a nice balance of adventure and caution to the story. Their connection is best seen when they play the ‘Imagine; game together. Though Fen was the narrator of the story, I loved Rey more as her quiet demeanour and bookish creativity won my heart.
🌳 Unlike many MG novels, this one depicts the caregiver at the children’s home in a positive light. Lissa is really good with all the kids and does the best she can with the limited resources.
🌳 The portrayal of the children’s home is also quite sweet, possibly a bit too perfect to be true. There were no bullies, and all the children did their best by each other and by Lissa. Though there are mentions of issues in food quantity and of their tumbledown house, these don’t get much prominence.
🌳 Fen and Rey’s quest into the wildlands was full of adventure. Right from making fire to foraging for food to watching out for animals, the girls went through quite a lot within a few days. Of course, there was a lot of luck on their side as well, which helped them much.
🌳 Katya Balen’s writing always depicts her love of nature, and this story is no exception. The descriptions of all the natural elements - the wilderness, the river, the night sky – are stunningly vivid. It almost felt like I was right there with Fen and Rey, living in the picturesque bush and wondering what to do next. This was the best feature of this story.
🌳 Love the cover illustration as it suits the story perfectly.
Bookish Nays:
🌵 I wish there had been more of Lissa and other characters in the book. A major chunk of the story has only Fen and Rey in the scenes, and this becomes boring after a while. Fen’s first person narration, with its excessive focus on the same few topics, also gets repetitive.
🌵 The foray into the wilderness was brave but also dangerous. The parent in me was a bit disappointed that they weren’t reprimanded even a little for risking their lives by running away without telling anyone.
🌵 Honestly, had I read this book as a middle-grader, I am pretty sure I would have been bored. The combination of too much description and too little action hasn’t worked for me till date. Even when there were some risky scenes on page, the first person narration and its monologues slowed down the intensity of the thrill.
🌵 As a child, I always preferred to have all the answers provided by the end of a story. But this book left me with more questions than answers. The background detailing is also very vague. Is the book historical or contemporary? Or maybe set in the near future when the world is not so green anymore because of climate change? How does Lissa manage to feed so many kids? Why were the houses set so far apart? Was the fox imaginary, or did Fen imagine her connect with the animal? Also, Fen and Rey are twins, but there’s no direct reference to them as such in the entire book. I’d have loved to see more of the twin connection in the story than just have a mention of it in the blurb.
This is my third Katya Balen book, but it ended up my least favourite of the ones I have read. (The remaining two have been five-star experiences.) The adult in me enjoyed the beauty of its prose, but as it is a book for middle-graders, I am trying to rate the book based on how I would have enjoyed it at that age. Unfortunately, the answer is quite clear – this would have been just a one-time semi-interesting read for me during my tweens, which is why I am rounding my rating down.
Recommended to MG lovers of adventure who would love an adventurous story with a wild natural setting but not many clear answers.
3.5 stars.
My thanks to Bloomsbury Publishing Plc (UK & ANZ) and NetGalley for the DRC of “Foxlight”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Connect with me through:
My Blog | The StoryGraph | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter
July 31, 2023
Beautiful and dreamy writing.
Fen and Rey's sister relationship is so surreal I wondered if perhaps one was an imaginary friend.
I loved the particular quirky details that sung of a child's attention to the details.
The story and power of the girl's imaginations didn't quite ring right for me. Still a sweet, wild and heart-warming story.
Fen and Rey's sister relationship is so surreal I wondered if perhaps one was an imaginary friend.
I loved the particular quirky details that sung of a child's attention to the details.
The story and power of the girl's imaginations didn't quite ring right for me. Still a sweet, wild and heart-warming story.
August 20, 2023
Foxlight
By Katya Balen
Published by Bloomsbury Publishing
A beautifully written story of the sisterly bonds that tie us together through our life and the choices it gives.
Katya Balen has the skill to connect your imagination with her chosen words to take you on this ever changing journey alongside her characters.
Fen and Rey were found curled up in the safety of the foxes at the very edge of the wildlands. With no name and no message, the girls crave their mother and their identity. Fen is loud, determined and free. She feels a connection to the foxes and a calling from the wild. Rey is quiet, shy and loves nature. She reads about birds, plants, the earth and the world around her.
How can twin sisters be the same and so different? Separate and yet connected?
They will always have each other, even if they don't have a mother and they don't know their beginning. But the unknown eats away at them and they want answers. Who was their mother and where is she now?
Why did she give them up?
So it is the appearance of a fox that Fen and Rey see as a sign - to the truth, to their real family, to the beginning.
But the wildlands are dark, cruel and brutal and this journey is harder and more life changing than either of them ever imagined.
This heartbreaking yet heart-warming story about sisterhood, family and accepting love is both consuming and fulfilling. A MUST read for all of us - lovers of humans, nature and finding hope together.
Joanne Bardgett - teacher of littlies, lover of Children’s literature.
#Netgalley
#Bloomsbury
By Katya Balen
Published by Bloomsbury Publishing
A beautifully written story of the sisterly bonds that tie us together through our life and the choices it gives.
Katya Balen has the skill to connect your imagination with her chosen words to take you on this ever changing journey alongside her characters.
Fen and Rey were found curled up in the safety of the foxes at the very edge of the wildlands. With no name and no message, the girls crave their mother and their identity. Fen is loud, determined and free. She feels a connection to the foxes and a calling from the wild. Rey is quiet, shy and loves nature. She reads about birds, plants, the earth and the world around her.
How can twin sisters be the same and so different? Separate and yet connected?
They will always have each other, even if they don't have a mother and they don't know their beginning. But the unknown eats away at them and they want answers. Who was their mother and where is she now?
Why did she give them up?
So it is the appearance of a fox that Fen and Rey see as a sign - to the truth, to their real family, to the beginning.
But the wildlands are dark, cruel and brutal and this journey is harder and more life changing than either of them ever imagined.
This heartbreaking yet heart-warming story about sisterhood, family and accepting love is both consuming and fulfilling. A MUST read for all of us - lovers of humans, nature and finding hope together.
Joanne Bardgett - teacher of littlies, lover of Children’s literature.
#Netgalley
#Bloomsbury
October 20, 2023
A really beautifully written story about wilderness and sisterhood. Absolutely engaging all the way through.
November 28, 2023
Enjoyed but not one of my favourite books by Katya Balen
6.5/10
6.5/10
April 9, 2024
This book was the first Katya Balen book I have read. Instantly, I’m drawn into her style of writing and now own three of her books. The scenery descriptions are stunning and I could imagine every detail of the two girl’s surroundings. I have to admit that the way it was written, for me, prevented me from really seeing the characters’ perspective. However, it is a beautiful book with a heartfelt backstory.
Main plot:
🦊 Two sisters abandoned with foxes
🦊 There mother has not been seen in years and they have no sign of her. Until a fox is seen on the light house border🦊With one strong minded girl and one quite yet wise, they make there way into the outside world…..
In three words:
🦊Heartwarming
🦊Mystical
🦊Gentle
Age: late primary, to early secondary
Main plot:
🦊 Two sisters abandoned with foxes
🦊 There mother has not been seen in years and they have no sign of her. Until a fox is seen on the light house border🦊With one strong minded girl and one quite yet wise, they make there way into the outside world…..
In three words:
🦊Heartwarming
🦊Mystical
🦊Gentle
Age: late primary, to early secondary
April 6, 2024
This book is so beautifully written, the prose is lyrical and sounds like the wild as you read it. It’s a book about found family, the power of the wilderness and finding your story when the tales around you don’t quite fit. Fen and Rey, twin sisters, live in a light house in the edge of the wild. They don’t know who their mother is or why she left them with the foxes. But when a fox arrives at the light house they follow it, hoping to find their story out in the wilderness. There were so many magical moments of natural beauty and also the harshness of nature throughout the book that I want to reread this with my highlighter in hand to co-write them all.
February 12, 2024
Fen and Rey are twin orphan sisters with fiery red hair. They live at a children’s home at the edge of the wilds. Their foster mother has told them she found them as babies curled up with foxes in a den. Fen is wild and free-spirited while Rey is quiet and an expert on plants. They decide to look for their mother, who they think is in the wilderness. How? By following a fox.
If that sounds like a shaky premise, it is. But I picked it because this author has won prizes and all her books have 4+ stars on goodreads, and because my kid LOVES foxes. The writing was surreal and dreamlike, which may work for some people, but the lack of concrete details was frustrating to us. Additionally, the sentences were either short phrases or very long sentences consisting of many phrases joined by “and”, or long lists with “and” between every word. It was grating. Lastly, my kids especially hated this book because they thought the girls made terrible decisions all the way through. Even the foxes were not enough to redeem it.
So why make them finish the book? Because I wanted them to be able to identify what they liked and exactly what they didn’t, to think critically about what wasn’t working for them.
If that sounds like a shaky premise, it is. But I picked it because this author has won prizes and all her books have 4+ stars on goodreads, and because my kid LOVES foxes. The writing was surreal and dreamlike, which may work for some people, but the lack of concrete details was frustrating to us. Additionally, the sentences were either short phrases or very long sentences consisting of many phrases joined by “and”, or long lists with “and” between every word. It was grating. Lastly, my kids especially hated this book because they thought the girls made terrible decisions all the way through. Even the foxes were not enough to redeem it.
So why make them finish the book? Because I wanted them to be able to identify what they liked and exactly what they didn’t, to think critically about what wasn’t working for them.
September 6, 2023
Set in an unstated time and place (UK? Featuring hand knitted jumpers, canned trifle, wild life activists and an unplugged lifestyle), twins Rey and Fen are foundlings, living at The Lighthouse, at the edge of the wilderness.
The other children at The Lighthouse know their birth names and a few facts of their mothers, but Lissa (two ss), once told the twins they were found entwined within the den of a fox, at the end of the wilderness.
Craving a family connection, Rey and Fen decide to follow a fox into the wilderness one night and the adventure unfolds.
Be warned, Katya Belen’s writing will have you yearning to pull your hiking boots on and out in the bush ASAP - endearing, engaging and enticing.
I genuinely enjoyed reading this book - my first from this author. Recommend for readers +8 years old. Fans of Katherine Rundell and Katrina Nannestad.
The other children at The Lighthouse know their birth names and a few facts of their mothers, but Lissa (two ss), once told the twins they were found entwined within the den of a fox, at the end of the wilderness.
Craving a family connection, Rey and Fen decide to follow a fox into the wilderness one night and the adventure unfolds.
Be warned, Katya Belen’s writing will have you yearning to pull your hiking boots on and out in the bush ASAP - endearing, engaging and enticing.
I genuinely enjoyed reading this book - my first from this author. Recommend for readers +8 years old. Fans of Katherine Rundell and Katrina Nannestad.
October 9, 2024
Oh, my goodness! I have no words for how beautiful the writing in this book truly is. I recommend that you read it out loud to another person to really feel the beauty and power of the way that Katya Balen writes children's voices; respectful and never patronising. 'Foxlight' is vying with 'October, October' as my favourite of her books. Fen, Rey, the fox, and the wildlands (and even their mother) will stay in my heart and mind for a very long time I know.
December 24, 2023
Foxlight is a tale of two sisters fighting to find out where they came from and where they belong in the world. Katya Balen's writing is lyrical and often poingnant littered with beautiful descriptions of the landscape which becomes so important to the plot. This book does deal with the parental abandonment of the two sisters, Fen and Rey, and how they process and come to terms with their grief regarding this, so may upset some readers but I felt that it was written in a sensitive and thoughtful manner.
Thank you to the publisher for the proof copy of this book.
Thank you to the publisher for the proof copy of this book.
November 6, 2023
I have very mixed feelings about this one. I feel like this one falls somewhere between October, October (my favourite) and her more recent books Nightjar and Birdsong. Overall, I did enjoy it... but this feels more like an extended version of her shorter books. Rey is a wonderful character though.
November 17, 2023
My first Katya Balen, and I WILL definitely check out her others; she writes beautifully. This one had an interesting premise and was narrated by a strong-willed girl called Fen who yearns to explore the wildlands beyond her home (she lives with her twin in a house for Found children) for reasons I wont give away here. Some passages were overly long for me, and bar a couple of dramatic moments in the latter third, it was rather slow-moving. Also I couldn’t believe that a search and rescue party doesn’t feature! Secondary characters could have been fleshed out a bit more too.
January 8, 2024
I read this as my last book of 2023. I bought it because the cover was stunning and I love foxes. This middle grade was a mishmash of literary styles and I really appreciated it for that. I found the descriptions of nature quite pretty but the plot was just too fast for the last 3rd of the book. I wish we had spent more time in the houses and I was hoping we would have more animal descriptions.
February 7, 2024
OVERVIEW
At the time when twilight meets the daylight (called Foxlight) two little 'ice' babies are found bundled up together with a family of foxes, protecting them from the cold. They are taken away to live in an orphanage, called The Lighthouse, with other children, who like them, have been left by their mothers. Many of the children receive letters from their mothers, but Fen and Rey receive nothing. The sisters do not know anything about their mother, and more importantly where they come from. They are very well loved and cared for at the orphanage, but all they hope is that one day their mother will come and collect them. But one day a fox visits the garden and slaughters a rabbit. They have never witnessed any foxes in the past, so it's seen as a sign to the sisters that their mother is looking for them.
PLOT
I always feel that if an author gets the characters believable then the plot will slot nicely into place, with very little problem. This is so important in this novel as the story's very much character driven. The wildlands are a very cruel and harsh place, and I worried constantly whether Fen and Rey would survive without a lack of food in the bitter cold and winds. This author is very gifted with her words; the reader cares and feels responsible for the sisters. As they get deeper into the wildlands the conditions get extremely tough; disaster strikes and the pair are separated. Can they reunite? Can they eventually find their mother? Will they be accepted or rejected?
THEMES
I feel the main message that the author wants to get across is that not all families need to be biological, and it can be those that we feel love and connection. This message is so very important especially in today's society where the word 'family' conjures up only those that are related by blood, and excludes any other type of family. On a personal level, I remember one Christmas I was on my own and I was told by a friend (who is no longer) that I would not be able to attend their celebrations as it was for family only. It will make the reader, whether that be child or adult, to rethink what constitutes a family.
CHARACTERS
I have touched already on the characters in the story. I love how Rey grew intrinsically throughout the story, when we first meet her she is a little timid and sometimes underconfident, perhaps compared to her extravert sister. But the author shows the reader that there is immense strength in being introverted. Personally, I have known this all along! Faced with adversity Rey can come into her own, and survive in the wildlands more than her sister. I would have loved to found out a bit more about Lissa (The Lighthouse mother), but I totally understand that story is about sisterhood.
STYLE
I found myself re-reading sections of the book as the language was so descriptive and beautiful, but never (ever) confusing. As I am writing this, I am thinking that I need to include an example. You pick any page within the book and you will be presented with sentences that will create a vision inside your head. If I had the gift to write then this is how I would choose to do it. If you have read any of the authors previous books then you will identify that one of the threads that join each of books together is that of nature. Here is one of the sentences that I loved:
Dark craggy peaks of mountains tipped with snow and the green and gold curve of hills and slopes that rolls towards the ground and then rush to meet the sky.
That's lush!
FINAL COMMENTS
I have read the author's previous books, that is October, October and The Light in Everything. It was this that made me choose Foxlight as my next read. Both children and adults alike would enjoy the book, and would get different things from it. It is very different from some of the titles promoted via that tic-tac thing. But that has to be a good thing. There is real quality in the writing. And I will leave it there!
At the time when twilight meets the daylight (called Foxlight) two little 'ice' babies are found bundled up together with a family of foxes, protecting them from the cold. They are taken away to live in an orphanage, called The Lighthouse, with other children, who like them, have been left by their mothers. Many of the children receive letters from their mothers, but Fen and Rey receive nothing. The sisters do not know anything about their mother, and more importantly where they come from. They are very well loved and cared for at the orphanage, but all they hope is that one day their mother will come and collect them. But one day a fox visits the garden and slaughters a rabbit. They have never witnessed any foxes in the past, so it's seen as a sign to the sisters that their mother is looking for them.
PLOT
I always feel that if an author gets the characters believable then the plot will slot nicely into place, with very little problem. This is so important in this novel as the story's very much character driven. The wildlands are a very cruel and harsh place, and I worried constantly whether Fen and Rey would survive without a lack of food in the bitter cold and winds. This author is very gifted with her words; the reader cares and feels responsible for the sisters. As they get deeper into the wildlands the conditions get extremely tough; disaster strikes and the pair are separated. Can they reunite? Can they eventually find their mother? Will they be accepted or rejected?
THEMES
I feel the main message that the author wants to get across is that not all families need to be biological, and it can be those that we feel love and connection. This message is so very important especially in today's society where the word 'family' conjures up only those that are related by blood, and excludes any other type of family. On a personal level, I remember one Christmas I was on my own and I was told by a friend (who is no longer) that I would not be able to attend their celebrations as it was for family only. It will make the reader, whether that be child or adult, to rethink what constitutes a family.
CHARACTERS
I have touched already on the characters in the story. I love how Rey grew intrinsically throughout the story, when we first meet her she is a little timid and sometimes underconfident, perhaps compared to her extravert sister. But the author shows the reader that there is immense strength in being introverted. Personally, I have known this all along! Faced with adversity Rey can come into her own, and survive in the wildlands more than her sister. I would have loved to found out a bit more about Lissa (The Lighthouse mother), but I totally understand that story is about sisterhood.
STYLE
I found myself re-reading sections of the book as the language was so descriptive and beautiful, but never (ever) confusing. As I am writing this, I am thinking that I need to include an example. You pick any page within the book and you will be presented with sentences that will create a vision inside your head. If I had the gift to write then this is how I would choose to do it. If you have read any of the authors previous books then you will identify that one of the threads that join each of books together is that of nature. Here is one of the sentences that I loved:
Dark craggy peaks of mountains tipped with snow and the green and gold curve of hills and slopes that rolls towards the ground and then rush to meet the sky.
That's lush!
FINAL COMMENTS
I have read the author's previous books, that is October, October and The Light in Everything. It was this that made me choose Foxlight as my next read. Both children and adults alike would enjoy the book, and would get different things from it. It is very different from some of the titles promoted via that tic-tac thing. But that has to be a good thing. There is real quality in the writing. And I will leave it there!
September 17, 2023
Fen and Rey have always lived in the Lighthouse with their carer Lissa and other children in her care. Despite a worry that sometimes the soup may be made from mice, the ruckus of bath time and chores like mopping floors, they are mostly happy. They are warm and cared for, fed and feeling part of their hotchpotch family.
Fen is fiery, fighting off hugs and fiercely independent, and Rey is quiet, gentle and fascinated in growing things. They are twins, barely apart and both often wondering how they ended up there. Lissa told them she found them curled up with foxes in the snow, and at night they whisper possible stories to each other. Imagine....
Did their mother leave them there, alone in the wilderness for wild foxes to care for? Was there more to their story? Other children have a token or letter to connect them to their past, but Fen and Rey have nothing but Lissa's story and their imaginations.
The more they ponder their past the more Fen feels the wilderness is calling to her. Will they find answers out there? Is their mother waiting for them?
When their handyman is brought in to keep a visiting fox out, they ask him about a local woman they've heard about who used to feed the foxes...
Talking to Marl is like slowly unwrapping a present, except the wrapping paper is a grumpy old man holding a hammer. Who was she where is she where can we find her can you tell us about her? and it's all flooding out of me in a tumble and I'm surprised how easily I find the questions that I've never wanted to ask.
....Could this fox lover woman be their mother? When the fox shows itself again, the sisters decide it's a sign. They wait until the time is right and they set off to find answers from their past.
Wow. This is a book to be savoured a second time for its simply stunning writing. Like beautiful prose, page after page has sentences that sing in a story that will bring a tear or two.
Twins Rey and Fen feel lost even living in a place full of love and care. They feel without an anchor with no knowledge of their mother or past. Finally seeking answers brings them joy and fear, courage and eventually what they seek.
Nature is woven throughout the story in its beauty and fierceness as Fen tells their story in first person. Both her and Fey go through realisations about themselves and transform across the narrative.
Carnegie Medal Winning Author Katya Balen has done it again. Gripping. Beautiful. Gentle. Fierce. Wow!
Age - 10+
Fen is fiery, fighting off hugs and fiercely independent, and Rey is quiet, gentle and fascinated in growing things. They are twins, barely apart and both often wondering how they ended up there. Lissa told them she found them curled up with foxes in the snow, and at night they whisper possible stories to each other. Imagine....
Did their mother leave them there, alone in the wilderness for wild foxes to care for? Was there more to their story? Other children have a token or letter to connect them to their past, but Fen and Rey have nothing but Lissa's story and their imaginations.
The more they ponder their past the more Fen feels the wilderness is calling to her. Will they find answers out there? Is their mother waiting for them?
When their handyman is brought in to keep a visiting fox out, they ask him about a local woman they've heard about who used to feed the foxes...
Talking to Marl is like slowly unwrapping a present, except the wrapping paper is a grumpy old man holding a hammer. Who was she where is she where can we find her can you tell us about her? and it's all flooding out of me in a tumble and I'm surprised how easily I find the questions that I've never wanted to ask.
....Could this fox lover woman be their mother? When the fox shows itself again, the sisters decide it's a sign. They wait until the time is right and they set off to find answers from their past.
Wow. This is a book to be savoured a second time for its simply stunning writing. Like beautiful prose, page after page has sentences that sing in a story that will bring a tear or two.
Twins Rey and Fen feel lost even living in a place full of love and care. They feel without an anchor with no knowledge of their mother or past. Finally seeking answers brings them joy and fear, courage and eventually what they seek.
Nature is woven throughout the story in its beauty and fierceness as Fen tells their story in first person. Both her and Fey go through realisations about themselves and transform across the narrative.
Carnegie Medal Winning Author Katya Balen has done it again. Gripping. Beautiful. Gentle. Fierce. Wow!
Age - 10+
December 11, 2023
An interesting story involving Katya's regular themes of family and nature. As usual her nature writing is second to none and makes you want to dig out your hiking boots and flee to the woods. The family stuff is also excellent, the two twins, Fen and Rey abandoned at birth but left together have a reasonably steady upbringing in The Lighthouse, which amounts to a children's home. They long to find their mother who left them . Its refreshing to for the twins to have a fairly positive home life as Looked After Children. Too often in Childrens Literature Looked After Children are portrayed as not being properly cared for. The Twins own relationship is another triumph for the book, Fen is the narrator, dominant and protective, almost motherly of her sister while Rey is thoughtful and creative and spends the novel being the quieter twin. Both together are so different from each other it serves as a reminder that everyone is an individual.
Somehow, despite the top notch nature writing and family interplay, there are neglected parts of the plot. There is not enough detail or backstory to any part of the wider world; where is everyone else? There are almost no other properly developed characters in the book apart from the twins and their carer, Lissa. After the twins trudge off into the wilderness following a fox they believe will take them to their mother, every building they find is deserted but stocked with food, this hints at an armageddon of some kind, but it is never explained, neither is the point in history that the book takes place. I quite liked Foxlight but there are so many unanswered questions, and if these answers had been included I would have deffo given it 5 stars. Netgalley ARC.
Somehow, despite the top notch nature writing and family interplay, there are neglected parts of the plot. There is not enough detail or backstory to any part of the wider world; where is everyone else? There are almost no other properly developed characters in the book apart from the twins and their carer, Lissa. After the twins trudge off into the wilderness following a fox they believe will take them to their mother, every building they find is deserted but stocked with food, this hints at an armageddon of some kind, but it is never explained, neither is the point in history that the book takes place. I quite liked Foxlight but there are so many unanswered questions, and if these answers had been included I would have deffo given it 5 stars. Netgalley ARC.
January 27, 2024
If you have been reading my weekly offerings, here in Postbag Picks, you may know by now that I do love a book cover. I am most certainly not judging books by their covers, but I am attracted to them. Foxlight came in last week’s postbag. It’s stunning and secretive… Barry Falls’ illustrations made me stop in my tracks to pay more attention. There is, as you might imagine from Katya Balen’s title, a fox on the cover and he is a magnificent creature. But there are some special effects too – secrets hidden in the illustration that will wink at you, teasing the corners of your eyes until you discover the key to unlocking them. There are a few to find too. The story, the book, its cover, they are all about discovery, adventure, sisterhood and found family. They are an outstanding package, captivating in their beauty, giving us all a beautiful story to read, an adventure to hold in our hearts for a lifetime.
Fen and Ray were found as babies, curled up warm and safe in the frozen winter marshes, protected by the foxes. As intriguing as that part of their story sounds, and it is, it is only one aspect of this beautifully imagined story. It is also the only part their own story the sisters know too. Join them in Foxlight in their imaginary and real-world adventures. They may have been found in the marshes but now they live in the Light House with the other children, all of whom write letters to their mothers on Sundays. Because Fen and Ray don’t have a mother, they imagine her. That she was a gem collector, an explorer. When the day comes when a fox appears at the Light House it seems that imagining is not going to be enough, now they need to set out and find out what the rest of their story is and they do, imagining they followed the fox…
Fen and Ray were found as babies, curled up warm and safe in the frozen winter marshes, protected by the foxes. As intriguing as that part of their story sounds, and it is, it is only one aspect of this beautifully imagined story. It is also the only part their own story the sisters know too. Join them in Foxlight in their imaginary and real-world adventures. They may have been found in the marshes but now they live in the Light House with the other children, all of whom write letters to their mothers on Sundays. Because Fen and Ray don’t have a mother, they imagine her. That she was a gem collector, an explorer. When the day comes when a fox appears at the Light House it seems that imagining is not going to be enough, now they need to set out and find out what the rest of their story is and they do, imagining they followed the fox…
January 27, 2024
I've loved Katya Balen's poetic voice ever since 'October, October', her way of constructing paragraphs with rushed sentences, her own stream of consciousness as it were. This book is quite similar to 'October, October' as the protagonists in both have a deep sense of connection with nature, though Fen and Rey in 'Foxlight' find out that the wildlands are less the idealized paradise October believes her forest eden is. The theme of 'found families' also connects the books. October knows her parents but finds an extended family in the mudlark club, where Fen and Ray only have their family of other foundlings in the Light House orphanage, and caretaker Lissa. October's mother left her dad because she preferred to live in London rather than in the forest, Fen and Rey are left by their mother in the wildlands, the dad is never mentioned. For these three children 'mother' is an abstract concept they either reject or long deeply to know more about. Stories is another connective theme. October imagines stories around a ring she found, and the stuff she finds mudlarking, Fen and Ray tell stories to figure out who their mother could be, but ultimately to find their own story. Neither October's ring or the mother stories lead the children to the answers they thought they would find, but gives them more self knowledge. The conclusions of the imagined stories are not satisfying their every need but the children learn to value twists and imperfection.
Here and there they book could have done with a bit more editing.
Here and there they book could have done with a bit more editing.
August 24, 2024
Een ontzettend warm en liefdevol verhaal vol wilde natuur voor liefhebbers van de boeken van Lucy Strange. Waar Lucy's verhalen een tikje meer gothic donker zijn, blijft dit een tikje naïever en iets minder meeslepend geschreven. Het zou voor een wat jonger kind (8+) al heel goed kunnen, ondanks de zware thema's van te vondeling gelegd zijn.
Sommige zinnen waren als poëzie voor de schoonheid van wilde natuur, andere iets nadrukkelijk herhalender en voor mij minder meeslepend. Het over all verhaal is echter warm en bitterzoet en fijn (3,5-4 sterren).
Fen en Rey zijn twee roodharige, totaal verschillende zussen die opgroeien in The Lighthouse, waar de stevig in haar schoenen staande maar warme Lissa te vondeling gelegde kinderen grootbrengt. Elk geeft ze ook een nieuwe naam en elk kind heeft wel een brief of 'origin story' - behalve Fen en Rey. Waar Rey weinig praat, maar Fen haar vurige wildheid koestert en waarborgt, houdt zijzelf van tekenen en verhalen vertellen. Wanneer een vos een van de kippen te pakken heeft, voelen de zusjes een aantrekking naar de wildernis die ze wijten aan het verhaal dat ze gevonden zijn bij een vos die ze warm hield. Ze geloven er rotsvast in dat hun moeder een van de 'wilders' is waarover verhalen rond doen - en ze móeten de lokroep van de vos wel beantwoorden. Met rugzakken vol rozijnen, lucifers en een homp kaas vertrekken ze stiekem. Wat ze op hun barre zoektocht door de natuur aantreffen is iets anders dan ze dachten - maar precies wat ze nodig hebben om hun eigen verhaal te hebben.
Sommige zinnen waren als poëzie voor de schoonheid van wilde natuur, andere iets nadrukkelijk herhalender en voor mij minder meeslepend. Het over all verhaal is echter warm en bitterzoet en fijn (3,5-4 sterren).
Fen en Rey zijn twee roodharige, totaal verschillende zussen die opgroeien in The Lighthouse, waar de stevig in haar schoenen staande maar warme Lissa te vondeling gelegde kinderen grootbrengt. Elk geeft ze ook een nieuwe naam en elk kind heeft wel een brief of 'origin story' - behalve Fen en Rey. Waar Rey weinig praat, maar Fen haar vurige wildheid koestert en waarborgt, houdt zijzelf van tekenen en verhalen vertellen. Wanneer een vos een van de kippen te pakken heeft, voelen de zusjes een aantrekking naar de wildernis die ze wijten aan het verhaal dat ze gevonden zijn bij een vos die ze warm hield. Ze geloven er rotsvast in dat hun moeder een van de 'wilders' is waarover verhalen rond doen - en ze móeten de lokroep van de vos wel beantwoorden. Met rugzakken vol rozijnen, lucifers en een homp kaas vertrekken ze stiekem. Wat ze op hun barre zoektocht door de natuur aantreffen is iets anders dan ze dachten - maar precies wat ze nodig hebben om hun eigen verhaal te hebben.
September 25, 2023
I am in awe of Katya's writing. I have loved every book that I have read and this is no exception.
The chapters are short - some less than a page! A story of adventure and hope, of love and friendship. A not to be missed story.
Twin baby girls are found by Lissa from The Lighthouse on the edge of the Wildlands. Normally if babies are left Lissa has had a call and the children have a letter with their name and details written on. But these girls are found with just a drawing of a fox inside their blanket. And they are found curled up with a fox...
They grow up in The Lighthouse with Lissa as their parent and the other children as their siblings. They are loved and kept warm and fed. But they feel different because they know nothing about themselves, Lissa even had to give them names, Fen and Rey. They make up stories about themselves, starting with Imagine that... the girls are different, loud and quiet, fierce and shy, outgoing and scared.
When repairing the fencing after a fox attack on their pet rabbits the handyman, Marl, talks about the Wilders, people who had tried to Wild the land and had encouraged foxes but no longer lived in the Wildlands. Was one of them their mother? When the fox returns the girls follow - continuing their game of Imagine.....but what happens in the Wildlands?
Thanks to NetGalley and Bloomsbury Children's books for the chance to read this e-copy.
Loved it!
The chapters are short - some less than a page! A story of adventure and hope, of love and friendship. A not to be missed story.
Twin baby girls are found by Lissa from The Lighthouse on the edge of the Wildlands. Normally if babies are left Lissa has had a call and the children have a letter with their name and details written on. But these girls are found with just a drawing of a fox inside their blanket. And they are found curled up with a fox...
They grow up in The Lighthouse with Lissa as their parent and the other children as their siblings. They are loved and kept warm and fed. But they feel different because they know nothing about themselves, Lissa even had to give them names, Fen and Rey. They make up stories about themselves, starting with Imagine that... the girls are different, loud and quiet, fierce and shy, outgoing and scared.
When repairing the fencing after a fox attack on their pet rabbits the handyman, Marl, talks about the Wilders, people who had tried to Wild the land and had encouraged foxes but no longer lived in the Wildlands. Was one of them their mother? When the fox returns the girls follow - continuing their game of Imagine.....but what happens in the Wildlands?
Thanks to NetGalley and Bloomsbury Children's books for the chance to read this e-copy.
Loved it!
July 6, 2023
Fen and Rey were left by their mother when they were babies and taken into the care of Lissa at the Light House on the edge of the wild lands - a home for young children ‘ abandoned’ by their parents. Fen and Rey have lived with the story that they were discovered sheltering in the warmth of a fox.
Unlike the other children, they were not provided with a keepsake or letter from their parent so have lived with a sense of uncertainty and Fen has told stories to Rey that imagine their mother and her life.
The sighting of a fox near to the house triggers the need in Ren and Fey to leave Light House and venture into the wild lands to find their mother…and so their adventure begins
This is a story about love, identity and belonging but it is also a story of the power of nature and the environment and how it can transform humans with the deep beating pulse of the landscape and the creatures within it. A story to inspire, a story that is poetic in its language and form and ultimately a story about finding who we are and accepting the good we have in our lives. Katya Balen is now certainly one of the foremost leaders in children’s fiction ; she has a depth and intensity of spirit in her stories that can make young and old reflect on life and the beauty around them. Simply magical and moving
Unlike the other children, they were not provided with a keepsake or letter from their parent so have lived with a sense of uncertainty and Fen has told stories to Rey that imagine their mother and her life.
The sighting of a fox near to the house triggers the need in Ren and Fey to leave Light House and venture into the wild lands to find their mother…and so their adventure begins
This is a story about love, identity and belonging but it is also a story of the power of nature and the environment and how it can transform humans with the deep beating pulse of the landscape and the creatures within it. A story to inspire, a story that is poetic in its language and form and ultimately a story about finding who we are and accepting the good we have in our lives. Katya Balen is now certainly one of the foremost leaders in children’s fiction ; she has a depth and intensity of spirit in her stories that can make young and old reflect on life and the beauty around them. Simply magical and moving
March 6, 2024
I genuinely don't understand how this book has such a high rating. It's... Fine? The messages and themes are lovely, sure, and there's some lovely descriptions, but... Ugh. The plot is flimsy at best: two orphaned girls follow a fox into the wild to find their mother.
On the good sides, I liked the relationship between the two sisters and the inner journey of the main character was nice.
The worst part of this book is the writing style. Personally, I found it extremely irritating and hard to read. It's either super short sentences or long, run-on sentences/lists with the word "and" between them. 🙄 I think the author should have done the book in verse, but what we got instead is just... I won't say bad, but I will say it's not my cup of tea.
I'm definitely nitpicking here, but the first comma doesn't appear until page 117 (halfway through the book!). I counted out of curiosity and there's only 28 commas total - they appear with more frequency towards the end of the book.
I'm sure some of my students will like it, but I predict most, similarly to me, will struggle to connect with this text.
On the good sides, I liked the relationship between the two sisters and the inner journey of the main character was nice.
The worst part of this book is the writing style. Personally, I found it extremely irritating and hard to read. It's either super short sentences or long, run-on sentences/lists with the word "and" between them. 🙄 I think the author should have done the book in verse, but what we got instead is just... I won't say bad, but I will say it's not my cup of tea.
I'm definitely nitpicking here, but the first comma doesn't appear until page 117 (halfway through the book!). I counted out of curiosity and there's only 28 commas total - they appear with more frequency towards the end of the book.
I'm sure some of my students will like it, but I predict most, similarly to me, will struggle to connect with this text.
August 6, 2023
Foxlight by Katya Balen is like a poem, intense and lyrical. Sisters Fen and Rey live in the sanctuary of The Light House, sharing imagined stories of the mother who they believe left them in the care of wild foxes. When a fox breaks into the grounds, disturbing the life they know - the noise and swirl of the other children in the home, the distracted love of their carer - they decide to follow it into the wildlands in search of their mother. But surviving in the wildlands is harder than they imagine, and Fen is soon full of despair and hunger-fuelled anger. They follow a trail of empty houses, finding new clues and tantalising evidence that their mother once existed but is here no more. They accept this loss at last and return home full of knowledge and hope - the wildlands are full of life again. I loved the richness of the writing - the wildness in the girls' hearts and in the recovering landscape. So much is left unsaid and explained, leaving the reader to imagine it all - beautiful!
Read
July 30, 2023I have never met a book by Katya Balen that didn't consume me and this is no different. Full of the lyrical descriptions that combine metaphor and personification to describe feelings and the natural world that makes her writing so special, this was another book where I just had to keep reading to find out the resolution.
Fen and Rey are orphans, left by their mother with a drawing of a fox to be found by Lissa who runs the light house home for abandoned children. Rey loves nature and being outside growing and studying plants and nature but Fen draws and tells stories. Both of them want to know who their mother was and where they belong so when a fox comes into the garden they are sure it is telling them to follow it. This leads them on a journey through the wild of the marshes, the forests and the mountains to different abandoned houses where they find out more about where they have come from and it leads them to find their home. Home where they have love and safety.
Fen and Rey are orphans, left by their mother with a drawing of a fox to be found by Lissa who runs the light house home for abandoned children. Rey loves nature and being outside growing and studying plants and nature but Fen draws and tells stories. Both of them want to know who their mother was and where they belong so when a fox comes into the garden they are sure it is telling them to follow it. This leads them on a journey through the wild of the marshes, the forests and the mountains to different abandoned houses where they find out more about where they have come from and it leads them to find their home. Home where they have love and safety.
July 17, 2023
This beautiful book written by Katya Balen, the author of October October, tells the story of two girls,Fen and Rey. They were abandoned as babies and have always thought that they were found cuddled up to foxes. They weave this into stories about their mother and what will happen when they find her. One day they see a fox and taking that to be a sign they set out to follow it. The journey takes them through the wild lands where they find an empty house and a map which they think will lead them to their mother. The story follows them through the trials of their journey and what they discover at the end.
It is beautifully written and I really felt for the girls and in particular Fen. I would recommend this to 8 to 12 year olds. It is not a long book so good for fluent readers to read alone.
It is beautifully written and I really felt for the girls and in particular Fen. I would recommend this to 8 to 12 year olds. It is not a long book so good for fluent readers to read alone.
August 5, 2023
I have adored everything that Katya Balen has released over the past few years and this is no exception. Here, we follow twins - Fen and Rey - as they follow a fox into the wild, believing it will lead them to the mother that abandoned them as babies. Katya writes so beautifully about the wildness both in people and in nature, especially children who feel they have a wildness or otherness inside them and who are trying to understand it. It's so difficult to put into words how deeply her prose in rooted in the natural world! The characters here, as in her other books, are so full, even the minor characters who appear briefly on a few pages. Balen is an extraordinary talent and Foxlight is another example of this.
I can't wait to share it with fellow educators and the children in my school, who I know will love it as much as I did. 4.5 rounded up.
I can't wait to share it with fellow educators and the children in my school, who I know will love it as much as I did. 4.5 rounded up.
August 26, 2023
Fen and Rey were found on the edge of the wilderness, curled up in a fox next. Living their childhoods at The Light House with other foundlings, they have no knowledge of who they are or where they came from. When a fox appears one night, they take it as a sign to go out into the wild and search for their roots.
Katya Balen writes with such description and feeling that you quickly get absorbed into the lives of her characters. She captures the atmosphere of the wild and nature and how it affects those who allow themselves to be guided by it.
This was a beautiful read and one I will be recommending to the children in my class.
Katya Balen writes with such description and feeling that you quickly get absorbed into the lives of her characters. She captures the atmosphere of the wild and nature and how it affects those who allow themselves to be guided by it.
This was a beautiful read and one I will be recommending to the children in my class.
October 2, 2023
"Foxlight" by Katya Balen is hands down one of the best novels I've read this year.
I loved the lyrical writing style, the vivid characterization, and the plot full of twists and turns.
But most of all I enjoyed the animal descriptions: you can tell the author has spent a great deal of time outdoors, watching wildlife, and that she has the greatest respect for the natural world. All her knowledge of and admiration for not only foxes but every little creature clearly shows through every page of this wonderful story.
I can't wait to read all of Katya Balen's other novels!
I loved the lyrical writing style, the vivid characterization, and the plot full of twists and turns.
But most of all I enjoyed the animal descriptions: you can tell the author has spent a great deal of time outdoors, watching wildlife, and that she has the greatest respect for the natural world. All her knowledge of and admiration for not only foxes but every little creature clearly shows through every page of this wonderful story.
I can't wait to read all of Katya Balen's other novels!
November 9, 2023
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.
This is a beautiful little story of two sisters looking for their family, and connecting with nature in the process. It should be perfect for most middle-grade readers, and perhaps even some younger ones if they've got a higher reading age. Balen's prose is lovely and the depictions of nature in particular are very evocative. It's also good representation for children who have lost their parents and/or are in the care system to see themselves in such a lovely story.
This is a beautiful little story of two sisters looking for their family, and connecting with nature in the process. It should be perfect for most middle-grade readers, and perhaps even some younger ones if they've got a higher reading age. Balen's prose is lovely and the depictions of nature in particular are very evocative. It's also good representation for children who have lost their parents and/or are in the care system to see themselves in such a lovely story.
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