BookBait: Fox8

Fox 8 (A Story) by George Saunders

Reviewed by Liesl Toates

In this small family of foxes they all go by numbers. Fox 8 is different from the rest. He likes to learn new things. After hanging around the windows of a human house, he learns to understand and read English. He begins to notice the excellent "skills" that humans have. When the humans tear down the forest to build more houses, his little family is in trouble.

Told from Fox 8's perspective this short story by George Saunders is funny, touching, inventive and tragic. Recommended for upper middle and older, the story is written as if the fox who learned English wrote it, so the entire thing is spelled almost phonetically. A heartbreakingly sweet look at life through the eyes of the wildlife we destroy.