By Andy Hartzell (author and illustrator)

Place: Publisher & Year: Marietta, GA: Top Shelf Productions, 2007

Genre: Fantasy, animal story

Format: Graphic novel

ISBN: 9781891830976

Intended audience: Adults (but would be fine for young adults)

Number of pages: 104

Settings: Foxville, Bunnyburg, and Funniopolis

Time period: contemporary

Plot summary: In a world populated by foxes and bunnies, the foxes brutally hunt and devour the bunnies.  Everybody knows this and their places within this world – everybody except one lonely fox who doesn’t fit in.

Appeal factors:

Pacing: The book is divided into three sections.  The first is the smallest and moves more slowly than the other two.  It introduces the reader to the world and characters at a more leisurely pace.  The following two sections move quite rapidly.

Characterization: There is one main character in this book; the story is told through his perspective.  All of the characters in the book are either foxes or bunnies.

Frame: Drawn in black and white with a wonderful use of contrast.  The story tells a dark tale, but with an illuminating ending.

Story line: A twisted and disturbing tale which deals with identity issues in both a funny and serious manner (without using any words at all).

Subject headings:

From PCPL:

Foxes — Comic books, strips, etc.

Rabbits — Comic books, strips, etc.

Graphic novels.

Similar authors:

From Amazon:

I Killed Adolph Hitler by Jason

The Living and the Dead by Jason

Hey, Wait… by Jason

Shortcomings by Adrian Tomine

The Arrival by Shaun Tan

Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic by Alison Bechdel

Skim by Mariko Tamaki

American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang

Blankets by Craig Thompson

I Love Led Zeppelin by Ellen Forney

Personal notes: I loved this book.  It’s definitely twisted and disturbing, but so is life.

Other (themes, diversity): Diversity – cross dresser