Pax Journey Home

Hot
Published |
Updated
 
0.0 (0)
1101 0
pax journey home

Truly you don't want to miss this one.

Pax is the fox that Peter's father made him give back to nature.  Peter  is the boy who had to throw the toy soldier knowing Pax would chase after it to retrieve it and bring it back only this time...this time...Peter would not be there waiting.  The two friends, the fox and the boy, who loved each other, would be forced to go on their own paths. Pax would return to the world of the wild.  Peter would return to the world where his mother was dead, his fox was gone and now the war had taken his father.  Now Peter has decided he doesn't ever want to care again.

When life deals you a tough hand and takes everyone you love, every single one, you can be forgiven when you decide you aren't going to care about anyone ever, ever again.  You aren't going to let anyone get close to you so you won't have to lose them.

Thirteen-year old Peter has decided to leave Vola, the woman who has cared about him and taken him in since he lost both of his parents.  Peter is going to join up with the Water Warriors and work to clean up the water that was poisoned by the heavy metals during the war.  He will leave Vola and not have any ties to anyone.  He'll be free.

Told in alternating journeys, this is the story of Pax, the fox and Peter, the boy, and how they create the paths of their lives after they don't have each other any more.  This is the story of how important it is, how essential it is for all of us to have connections and people and creatures to care about.  Peter tries to build his wall high and hard but when you love something, you are so fortunate and so lucky, and that feeling is so strong. It's tough to build a wall that keeps love out.  It's hard to run from caring about a living being...including a fox.

Deeply touching, respectful, this journey home takes Pax and Peter through the same forest near the same river but neither knows the other is there.  How hard will Peter hold on to his fear of love and trust?  Will Pax choose to trust Peter again - ever- after the betrayal?

Everyone  of us knows the risk of loving and trusting.  Sometimes life hands you a lesson that you have to unlearn.

Take a few hours and venture forth with Peter and with Pax and find your way back to acceptance and love and knowing no one is perfect but that doesn't mean you can't count on them.

Get the tissue box out.  These brave, persevering, risk-taking characters will make you shout with joy and blow your nose a few times as you touch the grief you know in your own life.  Glorious.  Exceptional.  Beautiful.

256 pages                                  978-0062930347                            Ages 8-12

Keywords:  foxes, family, fathers/sons, loss, grief, betrayal, love, healing, trust, nature, adventure, sequel, 8 year old, 9 year old, 10 year old, 11 year old, 12 year old, friends, friendship, connection, relationships

Recommended by:  Barb Langridge, abookandahug.com

**********

From bestselling and award-winning author Sara Pennypacker comes the long-awaited sequel to Pax; this is a gorgeously crafted, utterly compelling novel about chosen families and the healing power of love.

It’s been a year since Peter and his pet fox, Pax, have seen each other. Once inseparable, they now lead very different lives.

Pax and his mate, Bristle, have welcomed a litter of kits they must protect in a dangerous world. Meanwhile Peter—newly orphaned after the war, racked with guilt and loneliness—leaves his adopted home with Vola to join the Water Warriors, a group of people determined to heal the land from the scars of the war.

When one of Pax's kits falls desperately ill, he turns to the one human he knows he can trust. And no matter how hard Peter tries to harden his broken heart, love keeps finding a way in. Now both boy and fox find themselves on journeys toward home, healing—and each other, once again.

As he did for Pax, Jon Klassen, New York Times bestseller, Caldecott medalist, and two-time Caldecott Honoree, has created stunning jacket and interior illustrations.---from the publisher

*************

A year has passed since Peter and Pax have seen each other, since the separation of a once inseparable pair.

The war is over but the land has been left desecrated and deserted as the water supplies have been poisoned by heavy metals. Peter's father has died in questionable circumstances and although Peter is back living with Vola, and his grandfather visits regularly, he believes that everything he loves he hurts and they leave him so he is determined to shut the world out and live alone. After all, he is nearly 14.

And so, the boy-man sets out on a journey to reclaim his old home; to join the Water Warriors, a band of people painstakingly cleaning up the polluted waterways to restore life -flora, fauna and human - to it; and to keep the world at arm's length and out of his heart forever. That way he can keep those he might love, safe. But is that possible? He certainly didn’t count on meeting Jade, let alone her insight and wisdom.

Meanwhile, Pax has adapted to the wild he did not seek; and has become father to a litter of kits, one of whom is an inquisitive, feisty female whom he must protect at all costs, particularly after she drinks deeply of the contaminated water. And as they continue their long journey home, Pax continually picks up the scent of the boy who abandoned him...

This is one of those stories that stays with you long after you reluctantly turn the final page, not just because of the power of the surface story but because of the layers and currents that run through it, like those of the river that is at its heart - the river that put Peter back into old territory and provides Pax with safe passage from humans and predators. Although Pennypacker believed that she would not write another novel after Pax, clearly deep within her she knew there was more of this story to be told and this is the compelling sequel, one that kept me up well past my bedtime as I immersed myself in it, wanting to finish but knowing that when I did I would be left with that feeling that comes when an absorbing plot and great writing come together.

If you have mature, independent readers who can appreciate the nuances and parallels of what is between and beyond the words then this is the duo for them. Less sophisticated readers will enjoy the story for what it is, but it is those who are able to reach down to the deeper waters below the surface who will most appreciate it.

Outstanding.

Recommended by: Barbara Braxton, Teacher Librarian New South Wales AUSTRALIA

See more of her recommendations:

500 Hats https://500hats.edublogs.org/

The Bottom Shelf https://thebottomshelf.edublogs.org/

Storybook Cushions https:// bit.ly/storybook_cushions

User reviews

Have you read this book? We'd love to hear what you think. Click the button below to write your own review!
Already have an account? or Create an account