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From School Library Journal

Starred review from November 24, 2023

Gr 6-8-Twelve-year-old Fud lives in a trailer in the-middle-of-nowhere, Wyoming, with her mother and her mother's alcoholic boyfriend Larry. She's desperate for a way out, wishing she could be as free and wild as the coyotes she sees across the desert. When her spunky new neighbor suggests they sign up for the local beauty pageant, Fud is skeptical until she learns about the prize money. The money could be her ticket to a better life. As Larry's behavior escalates and her mom falls further into denial, Fud begins having strange dreams and visions where she transforms into one of the coyotes she has so long admired, and the pageant becomes more important than ever. This is a story about the effects domestic abuse has on a child. The well-rounded characters and strong pacing are excellent, but Vitalis's real strength is in how she portrays the toll abuse takes on children and the hope that exists when one is brave enough to ask for help. To adult readers, Fud's transformations into a coyote are a coping mechanism; to a child reader, it is magical, and both of these readings show the power of the mind to survive and adapt to trauma. VERDICT This title deftly tackles a difficult topic that affects far too many children. Purchase for all middle grade collections.-Kristin Brynsvold

Copyright 2023 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

From Booklist

October 15, 2023
Grades 4-7 Twelve-year-old Felicity Ulyssa Dahlers, "Fud," lives in a trailer in rural Wyoming with her mom and Larry--her mom's abusive, ex-boxer boyfriend who's in the grip of alcoholism. Fud's used to being picked on at school for her poverty, but being unhoused with her mom was better than sleeping on Larry's pool raft and living in constant fear for their psychological and physical safety. A new neighbor, classmate Leigh, offers Fud a bright spot, but as the situation with Larry worsens, a speculative twist tilts this story from tough realistic fiction into slightly dark Animorphs territory, and the fantastical elements may require handselling to readers. Scrappy Fud demonstrates admirable coping mechanisms alongside awareness she shouldn't have to live in fear, and the book's coyote facts and symbolism nicely bolster Fud's survivor mentality: "Sometimes leaving one pack meant finding another." Vitalis (The Wolf's Curse, 2021; The Rabbit's Gift, 2022) lends lived experience from "the fringes of society" to Fud's journey, per a note with resources, and offers readers an honest, slice-of-underrepresented-life story with a speculative twist.

COPYRIGHT(2023) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

From Publisher's Weekly

September 4, 2023
A 12-year-old contends with financial precarity and domestic abuse in this realistic read with a fantastical twist by Vitalis (The Wolf's Curse). In small-town Wyoming, Felicity Ulyssa "Fud" Dahlers walks on eggshells around her mother's volatile, alcohol-dependent boyfriend Larry, a former boxer, and tries to block out the adults' frequent arguments by imagining herself running free with nearby coyotes. Fud is initially wary of new girl Leigh, who's just moved into the trailer next door. But Leigh suggests that they enter the Miss Tween Black Gold Pageant together, and Fud commits after discovering that the prize money could facilitate her and her mother's escape from Larry. When her mother's health takes a turn and Larry's abuse becomes physical, Fud finds herself manifesting coyote-like traits as she struggles to survive while preparing for the pageant. The challenges that Fud and her mother endureâ€"some of which are based on Vitalis's childhood experiences, per an author's noteâ€"are sympathetically wrought, and Fud's resilience and compassion drive the narrative to a complex yet optimistic resolution. Fud is of Spanish descent; the supporting cast is racially diverse. Ages 8â€"12. Agent: Sara Crowe, Sara Crowe Literary.

From Kirkus

September 1, 2023
As the call of the wild meets the call of the runway, 12-year-old Fud faces scary problems at home. Writing that the despised nickname "Fud" is one of several wrenching elements in this novel drawn from her own life, Vitalis plants protagonist Felicity Ulyssa "Fud" Dahlers and her mom, a victim of domestic abuse, in a Wyoming trailer with unstable ex-boxer Larry, whose increasingly frequent blow-ups are plainly heading nowhere good. Desperate to escape, Fud seizes on the (slim) chance of a cash prize offered by a local beauty pageant and undertakes a major makeover with help from aggressively friendly new neighbor Leigh. But along with disturbing visions of being a coyote and feral urges so strong that she actually attacks a mean girl at school, Fud's senses of smell and hearing seem suddenly more acute, her hair and nails grow oddly, she has spells of coyotelike color blindness--and once, briefly, she even sports a tail. How much of this is imaginary, the author leaves readers to decide, but either way, a tragically familiar tale of abuse is layered onto a raw and multifaceted coming-of-age story. Fud's memorably unconventional pageant performance will win hearts and minds, as will her cry for help and the strong, constructive response it brings. Main characters read white; Fud's long-gone father came from Spain, and there's a racially diverse supporting cast. The author adds child abuse helplines and resources to her eloquent afterword. Rich, strange, and winningly intense. (Fiction. 9-13)

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