Mystery of the Missing Fox (PB)

Tamra Wight lives in Turner, Maine. For twenty-five years, she and her husband and their two children ran the nearby Poland Spring Campground, which provided her with plenty of inspiration for her spirited and exciting fiction. She weaves details from her daily life into her work, drawing on everything from campground chores to unexpected wildlife encounters to inform her writing. During the school year, she is a teaching assistant at Whittier Middle School in Poland, Maine. All four Cooper and Packrat Adventures, Mystery on Pine Lake, Mystery of the Eagle’s Nest, Mystery of the Missing Fox and Mystery of the Bear Cub are Junior Library Guild selections. When Tamra isn't writing, she enjoys wildlife watching, hiking, geo-caching, kayaking, power-walking, and snowshoeing. She can often be found (for those who know where to look) hiding under her “cloak of invisibility,” a huge poncho-shaped camouflage cloth that she uses to disguise herself from passing skunks, coyotes, and foxes.

In the News:

• 5 Questions with "Cooper & Packrat" Author Tamra Wight

  (June 13, 2016)

Carl DiRocco is a graduate of the New England School of Art & Design, and has illustrated Dear Big, Mean, Ugly Monster (a Minnesota Humanities Book Award Finalist) and Our Principal Promised to Kiss a Pig (a Children's Choice Selection). Carl lives in Reading, Massachusetts, and loves to camp with his wife and three sons.

"Tamra Wight scores another hit . . . This is a fun, fast-paced and very suspenseful mystery set at the Wilder Campground . . . [With] some fancy detective work [and] an exciting zip-line escape [the] gutsy kids save the day. And everybody learns some valuable lessons about suspicion, friendship, following rules and looking out for each other."  —Bill Bushnell, Central Maine Newspapers 

"Wight neatly develops likable, quirky characters, and she artfully weaves in a host of kid-magnet subjects: zip lines, water fights, three-legged frogs, and uber-stinky sneakers. Readers will love the hilarious, heart-pounding scene when the mystery is resolved—as well as the charming denouement. DiRocco's fine illustrations heighten the book's appeal . . . Young detectives will be charmed by the whole kit and caboodle." —Kirkus Reviews

“Mystery of the Missing Fox is Wight’s most complex book yet, with multiple storylines, a large cast of characters and the most action-packed scene [Wight] has written to date." —The Bangor Daily News 

“The dialogue among the youthful cast of characters is realistic and will be relatable to many readers . . . Those new to the Wilders will be able to pick up the story with no problem.” —School Library Journal, May 2016 

". . . [a] thoughtful mystery, highly recommended for young adult fiction shelves and public library children's collections." —Midwest Book Review