This atmospheric and heartfelt story is one of Betsy Byars' best-loved classics.

'And then, this afternoon,' Uncle Fred said to me, 'you and I'll go after the fox.'

Tom, a town boy, is horrified when his parents tell him he has to stay on Aunt Millie's farm while they are away. He finds country life every bit as strange and uncomfortable as he feared. But soon, he discovers a rare black fox with green eyes, living with her cubs in the forest. Suddenly, the aummer is full of excitement. That is, until Uncle Fred decides to go after the fox - will Tom save her and her family in time?

Betsy Byars was born in North Carolina, USA. Her father worked in a cotton mill, and Betsy went to school in a cotton-mill village. Her early aspirations were to work with animals, but then she married an engineering lecturer and moved to Illinois. Housebound with young children, Betsy began writing articles for newspapers and magazines. As the children started to read, so she began to write stories for them. Using her own children's experience, and memories from her own childhood, she produced many children's books. She now lives in South Carolina.