Classroom Connections: The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest by Aubrey Hartman
A Newbery Honor Book
2025 Kirkus Best of Middle Grade
2025 Publisher’s Weekly Best Books
2025 Booklist Editor’s Choice 2025
New York Public Library Best Books of 2025
Chicago Public Library’s Best Books for Kids
Evanston Public Library 101 Great Books for Kids
Los Angeles Public Library’s Best of 2025
2025 BCCB Blue Ribbons Book
Amazon Top 20 Children’s Books of 2025
Audible Best of the Year, Kids and Family
Spotify Best of the Year, Kids and Family
★ Heartbreaking, marvelously funny, and generously redemptive.
―Kirkus, starred review
★ …a riveting and morally complex tale populated by flawed, fully realized characters navigating realistic emotions.
―Publishers Weekly, starred review
★ To tuck such a deeply felt tale of self-discovery and love in such a delightfully raucous adventure is quite the feat, and Hartman’s sophomore outing is surely a classic in the making. Readers will not soon forget Clare and Gingersnipes—and they’ll be thrilled by the revelation of the unknown narrator and an ending that potentially promises more adventures.
―BCCB, starred review
★ Hartman’s animal fantasy is lightly macabre in its trappings but sweet and uplifting in substance, and the conversational narration adds an extra layer of whimsy to the proceedings. This tale of self-love and acceptance makes the most of its unique setting and the memorable characters found there.
―Booklist, starred review
Please tell us about THE UNDEAD FOX OF DEADWOOD FOREST.
Clare, a lonely undead fox whose job is to guide souls into the Afterlife, is visited by a badger spirit who is unable to cross over. They set out on a treacherous journey and what they discover forces Clare to face an unsettling truth about his own future.
What inspired you to write this story?
The setting came to me first (it always does). Deadwood—the quiet forest of eternal autumn where Clare lives— was from a recurring dream I’ve had since childhood. In that dream, I stand at the edge of a quiet forest, puzzling over what makes it so eerie. I never step foot inside, but I think, “something dark lives in that wood,” and then immediately wake up.
One morning after this dream, I laid in bed and wondered: Who would live in this forest? The answer came right away (it’s my writerly hack to exploit this magical interval when our consciousnesses are still drowsy and logic is out of the way): an undead fox lives in the forest. But what does he do there? And why is he undead? I sat up, grabbed my laptop, and began writing.
Since I’m not a horror writer, the voice that emerged was quirky and a bit macabre. To this day, those first pages remain practically unchanged. (Fun but perhaps unsettling fact: since I wrote UNDEAD FOX, I’ve never dreamt of Deadwood again.)
Could you share with readers how you conducted your research and / or share a few interesting tidbits about your writing process with this book?
It felt like a quick and straightforward process, but looking back at the timeline, it took five years! In 2020, I sent the first chapter to my agent Molly O’Neill, who was blessedly enthusiastic. A few months later, we sold my first book—THE LION OF LARK-HAYES MANOR— and I kept writing FOX between editorial deadlines. In March 2023, we submitted FOX to Little, Brown, and shortly after, I signed a contract. After this point, the premise and plot didn’t change in any drastic way, but my brilliant editor Ruqayyah Daud helped refine the pacing and flesh out the character arcs. Then, almost two years after selling the manuscript, and five years after its initial conception, we finally had a book!
What are some special challenges associated with introducing a setting your audience might be unfamiliar with?
Writing fantasy is wonderful but also very challenging. The reader needs to buy into the idea that your fantastical world could exist, so aside from believable setting details, there needs to be culture, customs, boundaries, lore, belief systems, and, most importantly, rules for magic. Once that’s all in place, then your readers will be willing to suspend disbelief and go with your character on whatever physical or emotional journey you ask of them. But without that, everything unravels. So while writing any type of book is very demanding, fantasy has an extra layer of difficulty inherently built in. But I suppose that challenge is part of what makes it fun!
What topics does your book touch upon that would make it a perfect fit for the classroom?
Among its many themes, UNDEAD FOX is about coping with change, self-love, and putting aside biases to find connection and friendship. Three things that I would argue any middle grade reader is wrestling with on a daily basis.