The Free State of Jax

After his grandmother’s worsening Alzheimer’s disease leaves her unable to care for him, middle schooler Jaxon moves to sleepy Walkonby, Kans., to live with his callous aunt Helga and uncle Clive, and their six unpleasant kids. When his attempts to run away prove unsuccessful, Jax instead establishes his own micronation—the Free State of Jax—on a raft in the hot springs pond of prickly and reclusive adult neighbor Owen. Owen, who is rumored to have murdered his own brother, allows Jax to stay under the condition that the youth write a constitution. Thus begins Jax’s crash course in developing a new society, which he institutes mostly on the fly: a supportive classmate is made its general, her lawyer mother becomes the attorney general, and local kids comprise its army. Between regular skirmishes with his cousins, Jax works on beautifying Owen’s property, all the while wondering if the rumors about him are true. This first foray into contemporary middle grade by Nielsen (One Wrong Step) is somewhat uneven; the over-the-top humor of Jax’s family antics is often at odds with the nuanced exploration of personal agency, while the central mystery regarding Owen proves less intriguing than Jax’s firsthand civics education. Main characters read as white. Ages 8–12. Agent: Ammi-Joan Paquette, Aevitas Creative. (Oct.)