The Midnight Fox

by Betsy Byars

Book Overview

Tom hates having to spend the summer on a farm . . . until he discovers the midnight fox. No one asked Tom how he felt about spending two months on his Aunt Millie's farm. For a city boy, the farm holds countless terrors--stampeding baby lambs, boy-chasing chickens, and worst of all, loneliness. But everything changes when Tom sees the midnight fox. He can spend hours watching the graceful black fox in the woods. And when her life--and that of her...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0140314504
• ISBN13: 9780140314502
• Release Date: July 1981
• Publisher: Puffin Books
• Length: 144 Pages
• Weight: 0.36 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 5.1" x 7.7"
• Age Range: 8 to 12 years
• Grade Range: Grades 3 to 7

Customer Reviews

Foxy Loxy

Back in 1968, I think it's fair to say that your average male hero in children's fiction was usually an athletic or at least agile young man. The Hardy Boys, after all, were still popular and the degree of introspection most young men in today's fiction are apt to was significantly less. Not so the hero of Betsy Byars's, "The Midnight Fox". A small unassuming but still interesting book from the last 60s, the tale is of an unathletic average boy, his summer spent on a farm in the country, and his chance encounters with a mysterious woodland creature. There is no magic. No mystical occurrences or significant coincidences. Just ordinary people acting and reacting to one another and the appearance of the animal that divides them. Tom is under the distinct impression that animals of all sorts, regardless of species or family, hate him. And this is just one of the myriad of reasons Tom does not want to stay on his Aunt Millie and Uncle Fred's farm. He'll be far away from his best friend, alone with family members he hardly knows, and he'll probably get loaded down with chores. Still, Tom's parents are adamant, so it's off to the farm for a couple months he goes. Of course, nothing is as bad as he had anticipated. His relatives are sweethearts, his chores miniscule and his best friend is writing him regularly. As for animals, Tom meets one that becomes his summer fixation. Living on the acres of land surrounding the farm is a rare and beautiful black fox with a single cub. Intrigued by this elusive creature, the boy discovers her lair and protects her secret. But when the fox angers the family by making off with a few chickens, Tom has to figure out exactly what to do to save his new friend from people with excellent fox-tracking skills. Confession time: This is the first Betsy Byars book I've ever read. I know her name is often synonymous with great children's writers everywhere. And I know that not having read, "The Summer of the Swans" yet I'm probably going to earn the pity of children's librarians everywhere. But honestly I didn't know what to expect from her as an author. What I found, to my delight, was a writer who's not afraid to use humor while tapping into childhood fears. Tom's remarkable in some ways because he's just an average guy. He can't swim, can't run very fast, and isn't a fan of sports particularly. His best friend Petie (who conjures up fake headlines like, "BOY FALLS DOWN BANK WHILE GIRL ONLOOKERS CHEER", to describe his everyday experiences) is just as interesting as Tom and provides a lot of comic relief in this tale. But best of all, this book tapped into one of my favorite kiddie lit conventions. It didn't include a villain. Oh, it includes adults doing thoughtless acts without realizing how they affect the children around them, sure. But no one here is a bad guy. And no one here ends up as the evil nefarious fox hunter or anything like that. If there had been someone like that in this book, it

Jakes Midnight Reveiw

I chose this book because of the front cover. The front cover has lots of detail, attitude, and acts like a hook the author would use to get a reader interested. But the cover is not the reason why I like the book. The author, Betsy Byars, really develops her characters. She backs up all the character's feelings. One example of that is when Tommy, the main character, is left on the farm. The author explains how alone he feels. That one whole chapter is about how Tommy feels abandoned, which me, the reader, made me feel terrible. She also gives you a good clean-cut picture of what's happened and how the character feels in your mind. That's why anyone could read this book, The Midnight Fox. The story, the Midnight fox, is about a boy named Tommy, having to stay with some relatives on a farm while his parent's bike around Europe. His relatives include Uncle Fred, Aunt Millie, and Hazeline his cousin. One day on the farm bored as usual Tom was in the field when he saw a Black Fox. As the days passed he became more fascinated by the Black Fox, and he followed her to her den and saw her baby and swore to himself that he would never go back there to disturb them again. The days passed fast one of those days Aunt Millie noticed her turkey was missing as well as some chickens. Aunt Millie told Uncle Fred about and she knew it was a fox, will Uncle Fred the great hunter catch the Black Fox who knows? To find you'll have to read the book.

An outstanding book that has stood the test of time

I read this as a child and again recently as a father. Betsy Byars does an incredible job of capturing the confused, angry feelings of a young boy left on a farm for the summer by his parents. The main character may resemble today's kids even more than those of my youth - imagine asking a kid today to leave his TV, VCR and videogames for a whole summer! The twist comes when the young boy sees a black fox and gets caught up in these fox's life. The boy grows up by learning to care for something other than himself and in so doing affects everyone.

A Great Book

In the book, The Midnight Fox, There are four main characters.Their names are, Tom, the black fox, Aunt Millie, and lastly UncleFred. Tom, a 10 year old boy, goes for the summer to his Aunt Millie's farm. He discovers a fascinating black fox while he reads letters from his best friend under a tree, in the orchard. He watches the black fox queitly without moving under a tree, in the orchard throughout the summer. Tom goes to the farm because his parents want to go to Europe without him. Tom's parents send him away to the farm, until they get back from Europe. The book has a few pros and cons of th story. It is a good book because it is about a fox, and I love reading about animals. It puts you in suspense, and gets more interesting by the page. However, the only bad thing is that u dont know what happens to the black fox when she leaves the farm for good. I think since the story is mainly about the black fox, the author should say where the fox goes, and what she does. There are a few pros and cons of the story that has to do with the way the story is written. Firstly, the story has nice short chapters which is a great thing. It is good because if the chapters were really long, people would get bored of the book. Secondly, the book is also very well written. It is good because the printing is very big and that makes the book much easier to read. For some people, it is a bad thing but for me that is good. Lastly, the narrator is the main character in the book and I like that because I can learn more about that person. However, a con of the writing is that there are many confusing passages with information that needs to be inferred.

The book is a good book for all ages.

We think The Midnight Fox is good for kids around the world. We also think this book is cool. Even though we are not finished the book, it has capitivated our full attention.