A review by nerfherder86
What Happened on Fox Street by Tricia Springstubb

4.0

A cute middle-grade book about a 10 year old girl facing changes in her family, neighborhood and in her longtime friendships. Written by an Ohio author, the story is set in an older neighborhood in Cleveland, where Maureen "Mo" helps her single dad raise her and her younger sister, and she hopes to one day see an actual fox on her street (there's a little bit of magic realism at play in the fox stuff, which was really neat). The houses are rundown, but the neighbors all know each other and support one another. Well, except for cranky Mrs. "Starchbutt," who doesn't want anyone touching her roses or walking on her lawn. When residents start getting letters from a developer offering to buy up houses, it causes tensions to rise: if people start moving away, what will happen to their neighborhood? Will Mo's Dad finally make good on his dream to quit his blue collar job and open a restaurant? Mo's best friend spends summers living just across the street with her grandmother, but is soon going to move permanently out of town, and Mo is worried about this. And she has to put up with her little sister, who runs wild and is a constant thorn in Mo's side. A sweet story of family, the born-with-them kind and the chosen kind. Nominated for the Buckeye Children's Book Award.