Review Detail

5.0 1

The Free State of Jax

Middle Grade Fiction 1348

Setting Up Your Own Micronation!

June 06, 2025 (Updated: June 07, 2026)

Overall rating

4.0

Plot

4.0

Characters

4.0

Writing Style

4.0

Illustrations/Photos (if applicable)

N/A

Jaxon Averett has lived with his grandmother after the death of both parents in a boating accident when he was three, but when she is diagnosed with Alzheimers when she is 75, Jax has to go live with his Uncle Clive and Aunt Helga Grimmitz in Walkonby, Kansas. They have a small farm and six children, most of whom are nasty to Jax. He has to sleep on the floor, is constantly bullied by Dutch and Danger, and the family can't even get his name right, calling him Jack. When he turns 12, he decides to run away and declare part of the neighbor's year "The Free State of Jax", a micronation. He knows the laws, and follows them. Of course, his family follows him and tries to get him to come home, but Jax finds a surprising ally in the owner of the property, Owen O'Keefe. O'Keefe has kept to himself after an incident nine years ago that ended with him being accused of murdering his brother and defrauding many townspeople, so he's understandably wary of letting others onto his property or into his life. Jax is glad for the support, especially since his aunt and uncle call the police, Officer Pressman (who is nice) and Officer Doyle (who is not). Jax also gets help from Alicia Baylor, who is in school with him and runs a "Brownies not Bullies" group hoping to help other kids. She brings in her mother, who is an attorney, and offers to see what she can do to get Jax away from the Grimmitz. Alicia also brings other kids from school, and they enjoy swimming in the lake, which is naturally warmed by hot springs. This is why Owen and his brother Waylon had wanted to turn the area into a resort. Jax is worried that the kids aren't really his friends, but just want access to the lake. To prove otherwise, the children help clear weeds, make a path, and install weeding. When the legal issues with the Grimmitzes heat up and Jax must contend with Finley T. Creel, Esquire, who is helping the Grimmitzes adopt Jax, some clues to Waylon's disappearance surface, and seem to implicate Uncle Clive. Will Jax be able to assert his independence in his new country as well as solve the mystery of Waylon?

Good Points

It seems fair to say that a vast number of tweens have thought about running away from home at one point or another, and Jax has more reasons than most. This adds an immediate appeal to the book; what better place to live than on a raft in a lake, where there's a concerned adult to bring you food? It was good to see that Jax had some people on his side, since his family were just about as horrible as Harry Potter's Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia!

The information about micronations, and all of the politics involved made this a bit unusual, but also gave Jax a framework for staging his protest. I loved that Mr. O'Keefe demanded that Jax write a constitution before he let him stay on the property. While the legalities of the Grimmitz's adoption got a bit confusing, I appreciated that Nielsen drew from her own past, and from the powerlessness she felt when her parents were divorcing and no one seemed to care about her opinion.

Even though Jax's parents are both dead, this book is rather lighthearted, with plenty of goofy things going on. It's fun to see all of the children working on Stay awhile Springs and stepping in to help Jax. The mystery with Waylon gives Jax something else to occupy his mind and also a way to pay back Mr. O'Keefe for his support. Scholastic does a particularly good job at publishing happier titles, and it was fun to see a different type of book from Ms. Nielsen, who has published many historical fiction books (Resistance, One Wrong Step, Uprising, Iceberg, Lines of Courage, Words on Fire) as well as the False Prince fantasy series.

Hand this to fans of adventure stories that involve running away, like Kleckner's The Art of Running Away, Hashimoto's Bound for Home, Kothari's Bringing Back Kay-Kay, but let young readers know that running away is generally a bad idea, just like Mr. O'Keefe tells Jax!