Pax by Sara Pennypacker

After the long slog that was Crime and Punishment, I decided to pick something a bit quicker to read for my next novel. Pax, by Sara Pennypacker, seemed to fit the bill. I'd had this sitting on my shelf for some time after purchasing it in a big order of young adult fiction destined for my classroom library. The beautiful cover was what caught my eye initially, and the summary on the inside flap promised a heartwarming story about a boy and his pet fox. I started out with high hopes that this would be a touching read. And it was...mostly.

The story opens with a rather upsetting scene. Pax the fox is riding in the car with his boy, Peter, and Peter's father. Pax notices that Peter is crying, but he doesn't understand why. A short while later, the car stops in a wooded area. Peter, who is still visibly upset, throws Pax's favorite toy into the woods. Assuming that it's a game of fetch, Pax bounds away in pursuit. When he returns with the toy, Peter and his father are gone. Pax, a fox who has been raised by humans for almost his entire life, has been abandoned in the wilderness. Unsure of what to do, Pax settles down to wait, hoping that his boy will come back.

The perspective shifts to Peter in the next chapter and we learn that he is on his way to his grandfather's house. He is going to live there for a while while his father fights in the war. He was not allowed to bring Pax with him, and he is absolutely devastated by how he left him behind. He torments himself with thoughts of how Pax must be lost, hungry, and frightened out on his own. Before long, he decides to run away and try to find him.

For the rest of the novel, the perspective shifts between Pax and Peter as they try to make their way back to each other. Both run into others that help them along the way. Pax becomes friends with a family of foxes and starts to learn about how to live in the wild. Before long, he is running, playing, and hunting with his own species for the first time. Peter, who injures himself almost immediately after setting out, meets up with an odd woman living alone on her family farm. Through her honestly and kindness, she helps to heal Peter both inside and out. When Pax and Peter finally do reunite, both are different, and both must make some difficult decisions about how to carry on.

On the whole, I enjoyed this novel. The relationship between Pax and Peter felt real and strong, and Pennypacker included a lot of nice little observations on topics ranging from the costs of war, to family relationships, to animal welfare, and more. My only real disappointment came in the fact that a lot of these topics felt under-developed and hazy. For example, the war that is present in the background of every chapter is never defined. No dates or locations are named that would allow the reader to make inferences about what is going on. Aside from a vague reference to the fight being about water, nothing is explained. That lack of knowledge felt weird while reading. It was distracting for me because I was constantly trying to figure out if I was missing clues that would help me put the book in a specific time period.

Similarly, there is a problem going on between Peter and his father that isn't ever explained. References are made to his father being an angry man. Peter fears that he will become like him. Pax also makes references to the boy's father being frightening, but again, no specifics are given. It was difficult to understand Peter's fears about turning into his father without really knowing what his father was doing to him. Towards the end of the novel, Peter runs into his father on a battlefield. A tearful reunion ensues, but I found it difficult to be invested in their relationship without fully understanding the dynamics between them.

While I found the persistent vagueness running through Pax to be a distraction, I do understand its purpose. Pax is a true middle grades novel. It deals with difficult topics in a guarded way. I have the feeling that a lot of younger readers would find the story to be very moving. As a more mature reader, I missed the depth. I wish Pennypacker had fleshed out the details of the story a bit more so that I could have formed a stronger connection with it. This is a solid read for younger audiences that like realistic fiction. For me, it was good, but not great.

Challenge Tally 

TBR Challenge: (previously owned) 42/60

Total Books Read in 2017: 54