Fox by Margaret Wild and Ron Brooks

            In class, I learned that every word that was chosen to be part of a book has a deeper meaning intended by the author than if you had just quickly skimmed through the book. That's why word choice is a very important method for close reading. Studying the word choice of a book helps you to further understand the story content. When you study the word choice carefully, you can sometimes read it in a different light, because it can help you pick up the small, but important details that could change the whole meaning of the story for the reader(s). The story Fox by Margaret Wild and Ron Brooks is about friendship, trust, loyalty, want versus need, and trust. In the book, Magpie burnt her wing, and can no longer fly. Dog helps her and becomes friends with her. Fox, however, is jealous of their friendship, and separates them. For this book, word choice helped me with understanding the characters a lot better.
            "Slowly, jiggety-hop, she begins the long journey home." This quote from the book means a lot more than just making a decision to go home. It shows that Magpie (which is who "she" is referring to) has enough courage to make this decision, considering the fact that she has a burnt wing. The word "long" indicates that the journey won't be an easy one. However, the word "jiggety-hop" makes you think that Magpie will finish the journey because it gives a light sense in such a serious sentence. This is the last sentence of the story, and it leaves you hanging. Adding the word "jiggety-hop" tells you that she does complete the journey, which shows you how important word choice is, because it changes the whole meaning of the story if the word wasn't there.
            If you asked anyone who read the book Fox, they would immediately tell you that Dog is a very friendly creature, because he is the one who took care of Magpie, and he was the one who welcomed Fox, who was a complete and total stranger to them. However, the words "silent," and "does not answer" are easily overlooked to be connected to Dog. Again, each word that the author chose to include in their books always have a purpose of being there. "Silent" and "does not answer" has double meanings. They don't just mean that he's not replying to Magpie's despairing comments, but also that he is very patient to let Magpie rant about her poor wing. He listens to her, but also works with her, giving her a ride to where ever they go.
            It's very easy to say that Fox is a cynical, dark, and selfish bully, which is not wrong at all. But when your read the words "a smell of rage and envy..." and then "loneliness," you feel bad for him, and you can see his motive for separating Dog and Magpie. It might not be the right thing to do, but at least the readers known that he's not doing it just bully Magpie and Dog. The line "Now you and Dog will know what it is like to be truly alone" confirms this.
            I recently just finished the book Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult, which was about the shooting that happened in Sterling, New Hampshire. Although it was absolutely wrong to shoot people at your school, Jodi Picoult does an excellent job giving you the shooter's back story, and does an excellent job making you feel bad for the shooter. After reading the book, my judgement was very confused with whether he should have been imprisoned for life or not. (I'm not going to spoil the book any further, but to everyone reading, it is the absolute best book ever!!!) The reason why I'm mentioning Nineteen Minutes is because just like Fox, the shooter has a back story, and I think Fox has one too that won't make him seem so conniving. Now, every time I read about someone being arrested for a crime, I wonder, "What is his/her back story?" and I don't get enraged all of a sudden. I feel bad for them, because the laws have no mercy when judging you (again, from Nineteen Minutes!)