Pax

I loved this one because I’m a sucker for a beautiful animal friendship story and pretty writing. Pax has both and then some. Plus, it’s told from alternating points of views between that of Peter, an adolescent boy coming of age during war time, and his beloved fox, Pax, who Peter rescued as a kit.

Like the other books on this list, Pax is packed with emotion and will probably require a tissue or two. But it’s well worth the read because of that, and because of the roller coaster of other emotions, readers will feel as well.

Another fox book! Such a wonderful story of love between a boy and a wild creature. Pax’s relationship with the rest of the foxes is so brilliantly told – he longs to belong with them, but he’s still so closely woven with Peter, his boy. The strange, jarring background of war adds so much tension to this story too – no one can be safe. Utterly gripping.

Peter’s dad has to go off to war, so he sends Peter to live with his grandpa. But first, he makes him return his pet fox to the forest. I love dual-perspective stories. Pax alternates between the boy and his fox as both struggle to adapt to life without the other—and to find each other again in an unsafe world. I also love stories about unlikely friendships. Halfway through, Peter meets Vola, a former soldier who carries the burden of war in her heart. Vola is tough, hard, broken, and wise. She helps Peter heal physically, and he helps her… show more.

Pax is a story that abounds with loyalty between the various human and animal characters in the book. The instance of loyalty that most impacted me was that of Peter, the boy, toward Pax, the fox, at the very end of the book. After releasing Pax into the wild at his father’s insistence, Peter recognizes his mistake and goes on a perilous adventure to reunite with the fox. Despite a broken foot and treks through treacherous terrain, Peter makes the hardest decision of all at the end. Understanding that, despite his personal longing for the bond he so dearly misses,… show more.