Maggie Lou, FireFox

A collection of stories about a headstrong girl sure to be on many awards lists come the spring, Maggie Lou, FireFox by Arnolda Dufour Bowes with illustrations by Karlene Harvey is a story that will have you hoping for a series!

Maggie Lou, aka FireFox is a high spirited girl up for just about anything. She is courageous and creative and doesn't let anything stop her once she sets her mind to something. In this collection of three short chapter stories Maggie Lou learns to box, joins her dad’s construction crew and goes out for her first hunt.

Arnolda Dufour Bowes has created an incredibly memorable character in Maggie Lou. She’s full of fire, hence the name her Moshum gave her, FireFox. She has a drive to follow her mind no matter how much her siblings and extended family like to tease her. These stories felt so good to read! They left me feeling happy and confident and entertained which is my favourite part of reading middle grade stories. Many young readers will be inspired and encouraged by Maggie Lou’s drive and will recognize that they too have the ability to be fierce just like this incredible character.

I really appreciated the care and patience reflected in the story. Although Maggie Lou has grand and lofty ideas about what she wants to do, the adults in her life make sure that she earns the fun parts by also experiencing the not so fun parts. For example, at Moshum’s boxing gym, she starts her training by cleaning and doing the laundry. That is the first part of her training before jumping headfirst into the hitting and punching part. I love the way that care and respect have been built into the story.

Although the book looks like a full novel when you first pick it up, it’s a series of three short chapter stories about Maggie Lou, her family and her ideas making it really accessible to middle grade readers. For some, the short chapters and small stories make consuming the story so much easier. For others, it gives readers an opportunity to really know the character and be entertained by a variety of incidents all while still in one regular sized novel.

I really hope that Arnolda Dufour Bowes has more Maggie Lou stories in her as I would LOVE to head back into her world and spend more time with this super fun character.