White Fox

Gr 9 Up–Ten years after their world-famous mother disappeared, sisters Thaïs (Tai) and Manon (Noni) return to the scene of the crime. While the two have been slowly drifting apart for years, Tai seeking fame and approval while Noni wants only to hide away in storybooks, a death-bed request from their father to discover what truly happened to their mother brings the two together again. But along the way, they’ll also discover startling truths about themselves and the twisted secrets their island home hides. Told in alternating points of view, this is a slow-build, atmospheric thriller á la Shirley Jackson. As characters, Noni and Tai are alternately infuriating and heartbreakingly loveable—protecting each other even as they keep secrets and lash out in anger. The book’s third narrator, identified only as Boy, introduces an element of the truly terrifying early on, hooking readers in from the beginning. The majority of the story takes place on the fictional Mediterranean island of Viloxin, and island residents, including the sisters, present as white.