SOLVED. Children's book."How you stink when you're wet!" he teased after he finished swimming with his fox friend. [s]

[Zev]

I read this a few times as a kid. It was written in the 80s, I think? I found it in my parents' bookshelf in the living room. It was a slim hardback book with black-and-white illustrations that looked like they had been maybe done in pencil. The cover was maroon or magenta; dark red color. I think the title was done in silver font. The MC's name was Johnny, and he was staying with his grandparents for the summer at their cabin I think. It wasn't the point of the book. The point of the book was the friendship he had with a boy, Sam?, who changed into a fox at midnight. Both boys were between the ages of ten and twelve. Given how the book was written, it took place in the early 1900s I want to say. The characters didn't speak how modern people did, and they didn't have modern technology.

"They swam together, not splashing, not calling," because it was midnight and not a lot of people knew Sam was a fox. I think his parents were, too. Johnny wasn't supposed to be up at midnight anyway. They swam in a quiet lake in the woods. He helped Sam dry off and teased him about having wet fur. In the daytime, Sam was a regular boy. I remember the ending was either sad or creepy. It didn't seem at all like a children's book, just a book with children in it, I remember thinking.

I'll comment if I remember anything else.

[Rainbowheart]

The Werefox aka Pure Magic

[SamSpayedPI]

Rainbowheart wrote: "The Werefox aka Pure Magic"

Just about to say! It's available at the Internet Archive: https://archive.org/details/werefoxor...

[Rainbowheart]

That's where I found it, lol.

The fact that Zev remembered that phrase was super helpful!

[bookel]

The Fox Boy (UK title). https://www.librarything.com/work/262...
The Werefox (USA title).
Original title: Pure Magic.
Author: Elizabeth Coatsworth.

[Zev]

Yes! Thank you all! I've pulled it up on the archive link and I'm eager to read it.

[Rainbowheart]

Awesome, glad to help out!