What do you think?
Rate this book
Busting Walls
Secret Adventures of Foxfire - Book 1
Deep within Sebastian’s vivid imagination, international spy Foxfire is tasked with her most difficult mission yet: to find and capture the Devil himself. Outside Sebastian’s solitary comic book–drawing bouts, the mystery-loving twelve-year-old helps his friends construct a secret tree fort using building supplies from an abandoned neighborhood shed, while at home he struggles to find common ground with his stepdad after his mom has left them following a car accident.
Distant as Sebastian’s reality is from his creative musings, Foxfire’s secret adventures eventually converge with Sebastian’s personal struggles.
Deep within Sebastian’s vivid imagination, international spy Foxfire is tasked with her most difficult mission yet: to find and capture the Devil himself. Outside Sebastian’s solitary comic book–drawing bouts, the mystery-loving twelve-year-old helps his friends construct a secret tree fort using building supplies from an abandoned neighborhood shed, while at home he struggles to find common ground with his stepdad after his mom has left them following a car accident.
Distant as Sebastian’s reality is from his creative musings, Foxfire’s secret adventures eventually converge with Sebastian’s personal struggles.
184 pages, Paperback
Published June 6, 2018
402 people want to read
About the author
John Hope
54 books28 followersForever seeking new adventures, John Hope lives a life of energizing enterprises. Born and raised in St. Petersburg, Florida , John earned his BS in Computer Engineering from the University of Central Florida (UCF) and since 1999 has developed and designed software for simulators, websites, traveler information systems, and numerous other technical widgets. All the while, he has quenched his creative hunger with writing a few novels, hundreds of poems and short stories, several short plays many of which he's acted and/or directed, puppeteered in countless skits, and built a number of toy train layouts. To keep a steady rhythm in his life, John has run over 30,000 miles in various road and trail races and training runs through the years, including captaining the UCF Men's Cross Country team, achieving TAAC all conference, managing 5k races, and at times traversing entire states in relay teams and triathlons.
Currently at home in Central Florida, John loves spending time with this family and friends. Whether he's traveling thousands of miles in a car or playing board games on the living room floor, he loves the company and conversations and laughs with the ones he loves. He often pulls from these times with his family and loved ones to create wonderfully tender moments and hilariously vivid characters in his writing.
John first got the writing itch as a child. With the help of his elementary school's reading specialist, he saw his first choose-your-own-adventure book printed, laminated, and bound at the school library and made available to his peers. He continued his love of writing through the telling of bible stories via puppet shows at church and writing for his high school's newspaper, including drawing humorous comics strips. Through these experiences, he saw the importance of connecting with an audience, telling thought-provoking stories with memorable characters, and the value of humor in his writing.
Shortly after marrying the love of his life, John was blessed with the birth of his daughter and son. Reading night after night to his kids, he revived his writing by making up stories for his kids. This lead to a number of published books that came directly from these stories: The Band Aid, Frozen Floppies, and Pankyland. He still works as a software engineer, a career he enjoys at times, but his heart remains in his writing.
John writes every day. Throughout the year, he gives writing and storytelling-centered presentations to variety of audiences, primarily elementary and middle schools. He stays connected to his audience with a monthly newsletter and publishing a story story every month, as well as a new book every few months.
Currently at home in Central Florida, John loves spending time with this family and friends. Whether he's traveling thousands of miles in a car or playing board games on the living room floor, he loves the company and conversations and laughs with the ones he loves. He often pulls from these times with his family and loved ones to create wonderfully tender moments and hilariously vivid characters in his writing.
John first got the writing itch as a child. With the help of his elementary school's reading specialist, he saw his first choose-your-own-adventure book printed, laminated, and bound at the school library and made available to his peers. He continued his love of writing through the telling of bible stories via puppet shows at church and writing for his high school's newspaper, including drawing humorous comics strips. Through these experiences, he saw the importance of connecting with an audience, telling thought-provoking stories with memorable characters, and the value of humor in his writing.
Shortly after marrying the love of his life, John was blessed with the birth of his daughter and son. Reading night after night to his kids, he revived his writing by making up stories for his kids. This lead to a number of published books that came directly from these stories: The Band Aid, Frozen Floppies, and Pankyland. He still works as a software engineer, a career he enjoys at times, but his heart remains in his writing.
John writes every day. Throughout the year, he gives writing and storytelling-centered presentations to variety of audiences, primarily elementary and middle schools. He stays connected to his audience with a monthly newsletter and publishing a story story every month, as well as a new book every few months.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
August 19, 2018
I won this book for my nephew from the good reads giveaways. I was happily surprised by the small stack that I received. Not only was there this book but also a plastic magnifying glass, a book mark, a door handing/do not disturb sign AND another book as well. I will hold on to the other book till my nephew is a little older. He is only nine years old now.
I wanted to read the book so I could entice my nephew to read it if he wanted to. So often he says no at anything new. I figured if I read it. I could tell him about and than after give it to him with all the stuff that came with it.
As an adult I loved the book. I thought the complications and problems the protagonist had were relatable and understandable by any mid grade reader. The book is about a midgrade boy who recently lost his mother and is living with his stepfather. Sabastian and his step father don't have any connections to each other. The step father was a rough and tumble jock as a teen and preteen. He wishes that Sabastian was the way he was as he finds it very hard to relate or even talk to young Sabastian. Sabastian is a creative and introverted type person. He writes very imaginative and witty stories about his spy character named Fox Fire. I really loved the comic panels of the heroin as well as the humor of the comic. I do however feel that the humor is not something a mid grade kid would have thought of. It seemed more that it was written by an adult or at least a teen. This is where I had sort of a problem. The writer writes the main story very well. However when writing the comic, it doesn't sound like a midgrade kid/pre-teen wrote it. Now Sabastian could be a pronominal writer and write as if he is an adult, but . . . well, no! While the words used, are the vernacular of a tween, the humor is more tongue and cheek and not what I think an intelligent and creative kid like Sabastian could come up with. In the comics Fox fire has a co-worker who is older and the two can relate and talk to each other but there is a definitive disconnect as there is with Sabastian and his stepfather. The stepfather tries several times to talk and make a connection with Sabastian. Sabastian only has his stepfather, his friends who are less intelligent than he is and the boys who love to bully him.
I would highly recommend this book to any mid grade kid who likes mysteries. While reading this book I was trying to remember the preteen I was and what I would have thought about the book. I loved crime solving books which this is partly is a crime/spy book. I don't know how I would have felt about the main story about Sabastian, his stepfather, his friends and bullies.
This is a very good book. It has mystery, kids going behind the backs of parents to make a secret project and very relatable characters. I plan to give this book, the magnifying glass, do not disturb sign and book mark to my nephew next time I see him. When he has read it, I will ask him what he thinks and add it to my review. If my nephew enjoys it and there are more books about Sabastian and Fox fire. I might pick them up, read, review and than give them to my nephew. Yes, I would recommend them.
I wanted to read the book so I could entice my nephew to read it if he wanted to. So often he says no at anything new. I figured if I read it. I could tell him about and than after give it to him with all the stuff that came with it.
As an adult I loved the book. I thought the complications and problems the protagonist had were relatable and understandable by any mid grade reader. The book is about a midgrade boy who recently lost his mother and is living with his stepfather. Sabastian and his step father don't have any connections to each other. The step father was a rough and tumble jock as a teen and preteen. He wishes that Sabastian was the way he was as he finds it very hard to relate or even talk to young Sabastian. Sabastian is a creative and introverted type person. He writes very imaginative and witty stories about his spy character named Fox Fire. I really loved the comic panels of the heroin as well as the humor of the comic. I do however feel that the humor is not something a mid grade kid would have thought of. It seemed more that it was written by an adult or at least a teen. This is where I had sort of a problem. The writer writes the main story very well. However when writing the comic, it doesn't sound like a midgrade kid/pre-teen wrote it. Now Sabastian could be a pronominal writer and write as if he is an adult, but . . . well, no! While the words used, are the vernacular of a tween, the humor is more tongue and cheek and not what I think an intelligent and creative kid like Sabastian could come up with. In the comics Fox fire has a co-worker who is older and the two can relate and talk to each other but there is a definitive disconnect as there is with Sabastian and his stepfather. The stepfather tries several times to talk and make a connection with Sabastian. Sabastian only has his stepfather, his friends who are less intelligent than he is and the boys who love to bully him.
I would highly recommend this book to any mid grade kid who likes mysteries. While reading this book I was trying to remember the preteen I was and what I would have thought about the book. I loved crime solving books which this is partly is a crime/spy book. I don't know how I would have felt about the main story about Sabastian, his stepfather, his friends and bullies.
This is a very good book. It has mystery, kids going behind the backs of parents to make a secret project and very relatable characters. I plan to give this book, the magnifying glass, do not disturb sign and book mark to my nephew next time I see him. When he has read it, I will ask him what he thinks and add it to my review. If my nephew enjoys it and there are more books about Sabastian and Fox fire. I might pick them up, read, review and than give them to my nephew. Yes, I would recommend them.
May 28, 2024
Bravo! Secret Agent Extraordinaire Foxfire is everything that cartoon artist Sebastian is not: tall, slim and well-trained in spy arts. She even wears a leather costume featuring an assortment of cool secret agent tools. In the Secret Adventures of Foxfire: Busting Walls, the prolific cartoon strips created by twelve-years-old Sebastian are therapeutic, helping him to deal with abandonment and trust issues. The exquisite drawings included in the book enhance the story. In his imaginary world, Sebastian’s heroine Foxfire is given a difficult and dangerous assignment: capture and destroy the Devil. In the end, Sebastian discovers the Devil’s unusual hiding place as well as the fact that other people are also trying to cope with imperfect family situations. John Hope’s well-executed tale provides a brief look into the myriad of issues faced by too many young adolescents and teens.
January 9, 2023
I want more!
All the angst and insecurities a twelve-year-old boy feels are here. In a world where adults are dealing with their own emotional issues, it's hard for a kid not to be lost and frightened. Sebastian finds an outlet and escape in his comic creations. The author seamlessly melds perception and reality... opening the door to understanding and empathy. I loved this book.
All the angst and insecurities a twelve-year-old boy feels are here. In a world where adults are dealing with their own emotional issues, it's hard for a kid not to be lost and frightened. Sebastian finds an outlet and escape in his comic creations. The author seamlessly melds perception and reality... opening the door to understanding and empathy. I loved this book.
May 31, 2023
Great Book for Tweens
This was a great book for kids 11-14, with plenty of age appropriate angst about parents, peer pressure and fighting dangerous levels of curiosity. Sebastian, Billy and Toby meet the new kids Lake and Ashley and warily get to know the newcomers, but find that Lake has a secret that is hard to share.
This was a great book for kids 11-14, with plenty of age appropriate angst about parents, peer pressure and fighting dangerous levels of curiosity. Sebastian, Billy and Toby meet the new kids Lake and Ashley and warily get to know the newcomers, but find that Lake has a secret that is hard to share.
July 11, 2021
Fun Ride
Author John Hope went all out on this middle school adventure. A fun read for readers of all ages. I can't wait to read his next novel.
Author John Hope went all out on this middle school adventure. A fun read for readers of all ages. I can't wait to read his next novel.
November 3, 2021
Better than I thought
Scrawny, creative not so tough boy book with dysfunctional family attached, I thought, do we really need yet another?
Turns out we do.
Scrawny, creative not so tough boy book with dysfunctional family attached, I thought, do we really need yet another?
Turns out we do.
February 22, 2023
Pretty Good!
This book had me at the edge of my seat! I would recommend it for a younger-ish audience, but it was still exciting! Good book!
This book had me at the edge of my seat! I would recommend it for a younger-ish audience, but it was still exciting! Good book!
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews