Fans of The Chronicles of Narnia and The Hobbit will likely enjoy Blackberry Fox by Kathrin Tordasi. This fantasy adventure will take readers on a journey into the Otherworld, a place where Welsh myths and legends come to life for twelve-year-old Portia Beale and Ben Rees.
Driven by curiosity, Portia steals Aunt Bramble’s key, follows a trickster fox, and opens the door to the Borderlands. The fox turns out to be a shape-shifter named Robin Goodfellow, and Portia has no idea what she had done until her previous reality begins to unravel.
Despite knowing that humans always end up losing when they make deals with fairies, Portia is driven by guilt and a desperation to save her aunt Rose from the memory-stealing fog of the Gray King and his Gray Riders. So, she seeks the help of Titania, the Fairy Queen.
In order to multiply their chances at success, Ben travels with Gwil Glumheart, a Salamandrau, to World’s End, a library that holds wisdom and hopefully a solution to their current problem: They’re trapped in the Fairy World while Rose is trapped in the Borderlands.
Tordasi’s novel showcases the values of courage, loyalty, and determination as Ben and Portia fight valiantly to accept responsibility for their choices—even at the risk of personal peril.
- Donna