Peter returns to the woods on a journey of longing and forgiveness that brings closure to both the boy and his beloved fox friend in Sara Pennypacker and Jon Klassen's earnest and wrenching companion novel Pax, Journey Home.
In the aftermath of the acclaimed Pax, Peter is nearly 14. He is both scarred by the conflict that killed his father and heavy with shame after releasing his pet fox into the wilderness. Peter has lost all he can bear and builds emotional barriers hewn as tightly as the boards of wood he laid for his new cabin, a home with no cracks to allow in light, much less love or comfort. Peter builds it, then abandons his plans to inhabit it. Pax, meanwhile, has settled at Deserted Farm with packmates Bristle and Runt, where he holds close memories of his time with Peter, the human he trusted. The foxes welcome three feisty pups that need food and safety--which can only be found a trip of several days away in the Broad Valley. Peter and Pax each set out on individual missions of penance and purpose, one fueled by loss and the other by yearning. When their paths intersect, each makes critical decisions that prove to be the salvation of the other.
By again alternating chapters between her protagonists, Pennypacker's (Pax; the Clementine series) lyrical, deliberate language weaves a powerful sense of place. The river's "rolling furrow of current" cuts a maimed path for Peter and Pax to follow through the ravaged valley, where poisoned pools of stagnant, silent and scentless water dot the forest and farms. Pennypacker's short chapters and Whitmanesque tone are descriptive but never florid. Without quotation marks or anthropomorphization, Pennypacker uses clipped speech and italics to convey the foxes' thoughts. Caldecott winner Klassen's (The Rock from the Sky) illustrations appear every few chapters, a mix of spot art and full-page sketches to offer visual context. Klassen's sketches are smoky and dappled snapshots in time, and the artwork's gray scale and saturated blacks lend additional texture to the story.
Some war wounds have healed in Pax, Journey Home, but aching loss persists for both the land and its inhabitants. This tender story of love and reconciliation, and of families made and chosen, promises comfort after unfathomable hurt. --Kit Ballenger, youth librarian, Help Your Shelf
Shelf Talker: In this profound sequel to the acclaimed Pax, a boy and a fox find forgiveness during healing journeys that reunite them after a year of unfathomable loss.