I will make this clear right from the start. Pax had me in tears at several points, the whole of the first chapter was so sad I had to put the book away for a week before I went back to it, but once I went back to it I couldn’t put it down.

A story of a boy and his rescued, but then abandoned fox (beautifully illustrated by Jon Klassen). We follow the trials of Peter and Pax through alternating chapters.

We watch them develop and grow and become independent. This story touches on a lot of difficult subjects, such as; truth, love, anger, and guilt, all against the backdrop of an escalating war.

Though we are unsure of which war and which country, there is a feeling that this could be in small, town America but also European. This ambiguity serves to highlight the universality of the emotions that are being explored.

I had an unsettling feeling throughout that the end was going to be extremely sad, but though there was a sadness it was triumphed by the independence that both Peter and Pax had achieved and was the correct ending.

Loved the book throughout even though I had to put it down, made all the more special by Klassen’s wonderful illustrations.

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