The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest
Aubrey Hartmann
The story of a spirit
Clare is a fox. He has died and resides in Deadwood Forest. Notice how carefully I wrote that sentence to avoid implying that Clare is either dead or alive. He is, as the title of the novel implies, undead. He is an Usher. He meets dead souls that arrive at Deadwood Forest and knock on his door and helps them to their correct destination, one of the four realms of Pleasure, Progress, Peace, or Pain. (In a book for older readers Clare might have been called a psychopomp.)
Clare died very, very young, and the event that killed him left him missing parts of his body. He thinks of himself as a monster and wears a cloak and a monocle to hide his disfigurement. He loves mushrooms and maintains a large mushroom garden near his home. He has an issue with badgers, stemming from the events surrounding his death.
He is thus dismayed when a badger knocks on his door. He is even more dismayed when he can't discern which realm she belongs in.
This is very much a "I'm going to teach my readers some lessons" kind of book. That always puts me off, especially when the author is heavy-handed about it. Behind the moral lessons, however, it is rather a good story. It deserves the Newbery honor.