HUNTED

Karen is attacked by a group of six or seven girls and the fear and pain seem overwhelming until she suddenly realizes that she is running like a fox, the hounds are baying, and there is no safety no matter how hard she runs. Transformed by her fear into a real fox with a sharp sense of smell, bushy tail, and an animal cleverness new to her, Karen Fox gets help from Mohl, a sheepherder. Meanwhile, at the hospital, her body is in a coma and her grandparents suffer as they wonder if she’ll ever come out of it. The story’s core takes place in the world of Mohl and the fox. Mohl senses that Karen Fox is exceptional, and their alliance grows as he finds his own world of herding sheep suddenly turned topsy-turvy. Stunned and on the run himself, he is wanted for crimes his long-dead father is accused of committing. In this place, somewhat akin to a medieval world with a matriarchal line of succession for the kingdom and a religion emphasizing the supernatural, the outlaws gradually become involved in a rebellion. All the time the clock is ticking as Mohl early on reveals that an arl left in animal shape longer than 24 days will die. With subtlety and style, Browne gradually makes this world complex and intricate, giving Karen a critical role to play as an arl—a creature visiting from another plane of existence. Watching the Queen move from one simultaneously existing level of reality to another provides just that sense of possibility, convincing readers that there is a logic to Karen’s ultimate choice. Karen must decide between returning to her body in our world or staying to help the rebels who have befriended her. Combining shapeshifting with a complexly realized fantasy world in a fast-paced plot, this would make an intriguing contrast to Rubenstein’s Foxspell (1996), which emphasized the experience of morphing. Clever and compelling. (Fiction. 10-14)