Pax

Starred review from November 16, 2015
Peter found Pax, a fox, when he was an orphaned kit, and he has kept him as a pet since his mother’s sudden death, five years earlier. Now Peter’s stern father is bound for an unspecified war—one fought at least partly on domestic soil—forcing 12-year-old Peter to move in with his grandfather, and to release Pax. It takes less than a night for Peter to become overwhelmed with remorse—by morning, he is hiking hundreds of miles to the spot where he reluctantly abandoned Pax. The aftermath of that separation is told in chapters that alternate between the fox and the boy’s points of view. In an exceptionally powerful, if grim story, Pennypacker (Summer of the Gypsy Moths) does a remarkable job of conveying the gritty perspective of a sheltered animal that must instantly learn to live in the wild (“Orphaned before he’d been weaned, Pax had never eaten raw prey. His hunger rose at the blood-scent and so did his curiosity”). Both boy and fox encounter characters who drastically rearrange their worldview: after Peter is injured, he is taken in by Vola, a veteran who has lost a leg and has strong feelings about the true costs of war. The opening scene promises heartbreak that the rest of the story delivers, as boy and fox journey to reunite, each dramatically altered by what it takes to get there. Art not seen by PW. Ages 8–12. Agent: Steven Malk, Writers House.

savv0100 - My dog once ran away and I thought I lost her for good and missed her so much when I went to look for her. This book is about a fox named pax and a boy named peter. Peter has known Pax ever since he was a kit. But one day Peter's dad enlisted in the military, which leads to him demanding Peter to send his fox back into the forest/wild. Once it's time for Peter's dad to leave he sends Pax out in the forest and Peter to his grandparents' house. There he decides he isn't with who he wants to be and sneaks out to find Pax. Peter had a lot of adventure trying to find him, but so did Pax. My connection to this book is when I lost my dog a had that same feeling of sadness and the only thing I wanted was her so I was determined to get her.