Sylvie and Jules, Jules and Sylvie. Better than just sisters, better than best friends. Jules’ favourite thing is collecting rocks, and Sylvie’s is running – fast. But Sylvie is too fast, and when she runs to the most dangerous part of the river one snowy morning to throw in a wish rock, she is so fast that no one sees what happens when she disappears.

At that very moment, in another part of the woods, a shadow fox is born: half of the spirit world, half of the animal world. She, too, is fast, and she senses danger. When Jules goes to throw one last wish rock into the river for her lost sister, the human and shadow worlds collide with unexpected consequences.

Written in alternate voices – one Jules, the other the fox – this searingly beautiful tale tells of one small family’s moment of heartbreak as it unfolds into something epic, mythic, shimmering and, most of all, hopeful.

Maybe a Fox is a beautiful, charismatic, charming, emotional book about the bond that two young sisters have, even in the after world.

Jules and Sylvie are sisters. It has been just them and their dad since their mum died many years before. Jules is eleven. She is just like her dad. They both love collecting rocks, and are very sensible. Twelve year old Sylvie looks just like her mum, much to the annoyance of Jules. Sylvie is full of energy, and buzzing with adrenaline. She also likes to run, really fast.

Whilst out in the garden, building a snow family, the two girls are having fun until Sylvie runs off, to go and throw a wish stone in the river. This was the last time that Jules ever got to see her sister, for Sylvie never came back.

At the same time that Sylvie goes missing, a beautiful vixen has just been born. She too is full of energy and likes to run, very fast. When Jules and the fox cross paths, Jules thinks that maybe, just maybe, her big sister has been reborn – this time as a fox.

Maybe a Fox is told from the alternating views of Jules, and the inner voice of the fox, and is split into two parts. I found it quite tough-going, yet addictive. The story, plot, characters and scenery are just perfect, and I was hooked from the first few sentences.

It is a very emotional book, and that is why I knocked one star off. Not that I don’t feel that it deserves five stars, it does for the excellent writing alone. I knocked it off because the book made me feel quite upset at one point, and that feeling stayed with me for hours. I just couldn’t shift it. I kept on playing the scene over and over in my mind, and I really didn’t like feeling like that. In one sense this is a credit to the authors, but in another I do wonder how children may cope with this kind of feeling.

The book will have children questioning their beliefs on whether we do come back as something else once we have died, such as a star, a snowflake or maybe a fox.