Student Saturday: Pax by Sara Pennypacker

 

GenreLmiddle Grade Adventure

Student Reviewer: Nikita K

Foxes are adorable creatures that are mainly wild, but a lucky few in the world are able to own them as exotic pets. Foxes are exotic because of their natural attachment to the wild, making them hard to grow close to. However, if they become close with their human owners, foxes, with their unique intelligence, will remain loyal and become natural best friends. 

Sara Pennypacker’s “Pax” highlights the rarity of foxes and their loyalty to humans, by displaying a boy named Peter, who lived alone with his father and fox for years, until his father had to leave for the army to take part in an oncoming war in the area he lived in. Since his mother was gone and his grandfather did not want any pets, Peter had to release Pax to the wild, a place where his fox had not been exposed to for years since he was a kit and rescued after losing his own skulk. With them growing up together, they achieved a loyalty and bond to each other that many normal friends and pets don’t typically share. With that being obvious, Peter felt he had an obligation to go out into the wild, with zero experience and a broken leg, to look for his fox and reunite with him.

 

After rereading “Pax” for the third time, this book still manages to hold a spot in my top 5 favorite books of all time. This beautifully written story by Pennypacker does a wonderful job at making the reader feel as if they were right next to Peter and Pax in their journey and help you feel what they feel in the moment. This book comes highly recommended from me to readers from middle school and up who are looking for an adventurous and heartwarming book that is highly realistic and reflects problems in modern day society.