Starred Review for Kirkus Reviews (Wed Sep 06 00:00:00 CDT 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)

ALA Booklist (Wed Dec 06 00:00:00 CST 2023)

Twelve-year-old Felicity Ulyssa Dahlers, "Fud," lives in a trailer in rural Wyoming with her mom and Larry r 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.

Kirkus Reviews (Fri Oct 04 00:00:00 CDT 2024)

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)

Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 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 endure—some of which are based on Vitalis’s childhood experiences, per an author’s note—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 8–12. Agent: Sara Crowe, Sara Crowe Literary. (Oct.)