Pax

Pax

by Sara Pennypacker

Genre: Juvenile Fiction

Synopsis:  Pax and Peter have been inseparable ever since Peter rescued him as a kit.  But one day the unimaginable happens: Peter's dad enlists in the military and makes him return the fox to the wild.

At his grandfather's house three hundred miles away from home, Peter knows he isn't where he should be-with Pax.  He strikes out on his own despite the encroaching war, spurred by love, loyalty, and grief, to be reunited with his fox.

Meanwhile Pax, steadfastly waiting for his boy, embarks on adventures and discoveries of his own...

from the book jacket

Review:  I had heard such good things about this book and unfortunately this book just didn't grab me.  I was looking for a heart grabbing emotional read about an animal and while parts of this book were somewhat moving, it fell flat for me.  My favorite part of the book was the relationship between Peter and a woman named Nova who he unexpectedly meets.  Nova has some wisdom for Peter and he in turn helps her out.  The chapters alternate between ones about Peter and ones about Pax and I found myself putting down the book during the Pax chapters and looking forward to the chapters about Peter.  There was so much talk about how humans destroy things and this was repeated in the chapters narrated by Pax.  It got repetitive and I just wanted something else to happen.  The end seemed a little anticlimactic for me.  I am not sure that middle grade students are going to get as much meaning out of this book as the author wants them to get out of the book.

Rating: 3 stars