Jarby is the misfit of the Reynard family, disapproved of by his swindler parents and mocked as the "unclever fox" by his siblings. When the others are off tricking the animals of nearby Gullibility, kindhearted Jarby wanders the forest, wondering about the lives of turtles and spiders, and daydreaming of the day when he might become a magical "spirit fox." Forced to leave home and seek his own territory, Jarby ultimately finds a place for himself in the gentle community of the "Nuisance Grounds," a land with a strange and secret history. He takes up residence in the underground hotel of an insomniac groundhog named Mr. Porter. He befriends other characters, including a hyperactive river otter, a poetry-spouting possum, and a burrowing owl who doesn't burrow. When the cruel and powerful pigs of nearby Porcinia threaten his newfound happiness, Jarby must come up with a plan to save everyone. Can he find the cleverness that has always eluded him? Can he become the spirit fox he once dreamed of?