A little harsh on the realities of life, but the characterizations and relationships are captivating. ( )

Jeez, here I go again, not really digging another big release of 2016 by an author I love (see my review of [b:Raymie Nightingale|25937866|Raymie Nightingale|Kate DiCamillo|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1446751148s/25937866.jpg|45835163]). What is up? I don't know. Maybe I'm just not the right reader for such major bummer, sadsadsadness right now.

My biggest issue with this book is that the setting is completely ambiguous and I struggled with it throughout the book. When and where does it take place? In what world is there a little league game taking place a few miles from a war zone?

It's also become a really tired cliche for a sad kid to randomly meet a magical friend who fixes them (and, of course, the kid fixes the friend, too). I could go a good ten years without reading another story where that is a major plot line. Peter and Vola are both characters with a lot of backstory, but I still didn't feel like they had real depth. They both came off as flat portrayals of sadness and guilt personified.

I don't mean to vent about this book, because it did have some good parts (e.g. Pax's POV), but as I sit to write this review I'm just frustrated that both Pennypacker and DiCamillo have disappointed me so far this year. Ladies, I love you, but you're bringing me down. ( )

Peter and his fox Pax are separated when war comes to their community. The rest of the book rotates POVs between the two as they try to find their way back to each other. I loved this one enough that I immediately had to find the sequel. I love the realistic way the author writes from Pax's POV. It's a beautiful story about learning what's important to you and finding your true family.

"Let me tell you, feelings are all dangerous. Love, hope...Ha! Hope! You talk about dangerous, eh? No, you can't avoid any of them." ( )

I enjoyed the themes in this book on the inevitable cycle of change and having to constantly reevaluate how those changes add or subtract or compile somehow who you are. I have read where a lot of people feel dissatisfied with the ending, but I rather liked it. It ended the journey which began the book. Another journey will happen, but this was the window for the novel. I think the ending shows how change is a cycle, there's always a journey after the last journey but from each one Peter will find some essential truths at his foundation. ( )

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. . . .