karastotle 's review for:

Pax by Sara Pennypacker

4.0

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I read this book in a single day, which isn't necessarily shocking for a middle grade novel. However, Pennypacker's deft writing kept things moving quickly while still incorporating lovely turns of phrase and new vocabulary words for middle grade readers. This book's coming-of-age plot deals with a lot of heavy topics

Spoiler

— the death of one parent, the neglect and anger of another, therapy for children, anxiety and temper problems, the unseen cost of war, the willful loss of a beloved pet —

which makes it a good way to introduce discussions about these subjects. For some kids, this book will be exactly what they need to read, but it may be a little heavy (or a lot heavy) for others, so definitely vet this for yourself before handing it off to a kid. This probably isn't a book I'd just give to a kid without the expectation of discussing it together at the end, and maybe even reading it together as we go along. The indeterminate time setting (WWII? present day? do we even know?) perplexed me as an adult, and I imagine it would be more confusing and possibly even distracting to younger readers. This book is recommended for ages 8-12 / grades 4-7, but I'd say it's most appropriate for the older end of that range.