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Pax
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Pax
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Pax
Audiobook5 hours

Pax

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

4/5

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About this audiobook

A moving story of the extraordinary friendship between a boy and his fox, and their epic journey to be reunited.

Pax was only a kit when his family was killed and he was rescued by ‘his boy’, Peter. Now the country is at war and when his father enlists, Peter has no choice but to move in with his grandfather. Far worse than leaving home is the fact that he has to leave Pax behind. But before Peter spends even one night under his grandfather’s roof he sneaks out into the night, determined to find his beloved friend. This is the story of Peter, Pax, and their journeys back to each other as war rampages throughout the country.

A profound and moving story, ‘Pax’ is destined to become a classic in the vein of ‘Charlotte’s Web’ and ‘Watership Down’.

Editor's Note

Wholly affecting…

“Pax” is a novel that the whole family will enjoy. It follows a unique pair — a young boy named Peter and his pet fox, Pax — after they have to part and as they try to find each other once more, despite the wilds that now separate them. A wholly affecting story.

LanguageEnglish
PublisherHarperCollins
Release dateFeb 25, 2016
ISBN9780008158101
Author

Sara Pennypacker

Sara Pennypacker is the author of the bestselling Pax, the award-winning, New York Times bestselling Clementine series, the novel Summer of the Gypsy Moths, and the picture books Pierre in Love, Sparrow Girl, and Meet the Dullards. She lives in the US. You can visit her online at www.sarapennypacker.com.

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Reviews for Pax

Rating: 4.025423798547215 out of 5 stars
4/5

413 ratings46 reviews

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  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I'M NOT CRYING, YOU'RE CRYING! This book is exactly why I stay away from books about animals. I teared up at the beginning and I sobbed at the end. Pax is about a boy and his fox and the on coming war. Peter has to leave his fox, Pax, behind in the woods because his dad joined the military and he has to go live with his grandpa, but right away he realizes what a terrible mistake he has made and must go find Pax. The story explores the cost of war that might not be thought about usually and how it can affect everything in different ways. This story is sad, but has a good uplifting message. I felt at times the plot could of been smoother and maybe more information about the characters and the background. The fox chapters are all amazing though and emotional. Ugh. Definitely not a book just for children, any age can appreciate the story and message.

    Pax the fox does not die.

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    A reviewer mentioned this as a "tear-jerker". That is the best description. The plot deals with companionship, loyalty and perseverance with an overtone of hardship and even danger.The characters are very well developed and the author really knows how to ramp up emotion and give you a strong urge to know how the fox and the boy come out of their predicamentI would barely call this a children's book as there is too much stress in the story. But it would be suitable for an adolescent, high school but not a grade-schooler..That said, I was glued to the book once started. I was a little critical the book ends without ramping down the tense dangerous situation the fox is in. Also the boy has some decisions to make soon and would have liked one more chapter to see how the author would handle that. I myself could not see a way forward that would be suitable for both fox and boy. But good authors can pull rabbits out of hats and I hope the author follows this book with a second to finish the story.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Super cute! A lovely story of a boy and his fox
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This is a beautiful book about loss, grief, and spiritual renewal set in a dangerous world with an uncertain future.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I don't often say this this, but be warned: this book will give you ALL the emotions. Told in alternating POVs between Peter, a young boy, and his fox, Pax, the story follows the dual journeys that Peter and Pax undertake to find each other after they are separated when Peter's father goes to war. The book is heartbreaking from the first chapter and doesn't really back down with the emotional energy throughout. Ultimately, this is a story of friendship, love, redemption, and loyalty. I was slightly put off by the ending, but after thinking about it, IMO there was really no other way Pennypacker could have ended the story. Jon Klassen's accompanying illustrations are a lovely addition to the book. This is going to be a book that will be sticking with me for quite some time.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    A boy. A wolf. A father who has enlisted in a sudden war. The boy releases his wolf into the wild and immediately regrets it. He sneaks away from his grandfather's house to attempt to reunite with the wolf. In the process he breaks his leg and meets up with a woman with her own set of issues stemming from a war. The wolf, too, meets up with new companions and his own set of adventures. All this with suitably mysterious illustrations by the wonderful Jon Klassen.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This book. Oh my. This story broke my heart and then healed it too. A beautiful beautiful story.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    A very deep and bittersweet story for middle graders.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    A poignant tale about a boy and his fox; an excellent read that I got through in a short sitting.  
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    A box about a boy who abandons his pet fox when his father tells him he has to, but who then changes his mind and journeys to get his fox back.Powerfully and beautifully written, with alternating chapters from the boy and the fox, it touches on powerful themes of war and disability, found family, knowing yourself, telling the truth, fear of becoming like family you dislike, loss, love and not giving up.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Overall, a good piece of work. To be admired for its frank approach to heartbreak, fear, love, loss, and resolve. And the illustrations are absolute gems...wish there were more of them! It is DARK, though. It opens with the most desolate of scenes, a boy having to drive away the fox he has cherished and cared for through much of his life, and I wondered if I wanted to read the rest. Chapters alternate between the boy and the fox, and both are frightened, in pain, and staunch. The fox is believable - she has clearly done her homework on fox behavior, with allowances for the purposes of the story. I did keep turning pages, though I had a feeling (correct, as it turned out) how this would end. I think Pennypacker made some choices that weaken the book: there is simply too much packed (no pun intended) in here, especially for a middle-grade novel. Dead or coldhearted parents, a hermitic woman, a vague war, PTSD, violent deaths and dismemberments, baseball... It all occurs in an oddly placeless, timeless setting that leaves all these elements a bit afloat in a murky sea. Perhaps this was meant to reflect how confusing and random the world seems to kids, but it needed a stronger anchor to reality. The language is forceful, she pulls no punches, and very admirably refuses to write down to her presumably young readers, which means that older kids and adults will also find this readable and engaging. Sometimes disturbing, confusing, also poignant and brave... An unusual and dark story, but definitely worth the read.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Loved this book!
  • Rating: 1 out of 5 stars
    1/5
    Listened to the Audiobook versionTo be blunt, this bored me so much. The whole story just felt like it dragged on, nothing really sparked an interest from me. At one point I thought the “war” was overseas but apparently it was right smack in the main town since the boy was able to go to the battlefield by bus.I also couldn’t figure out if the father was suppose to be abusive or just really strict with his son, and I still don’t know.All the interactions with Vola honestly bugged me. I didn’t like how she was written.Didn’t care for the end either, it was just so abrupt and it didn’t feel like there was any real closure to anything. The story just left me feeling blah.At least the cover is pretty.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This was a beautifully written book, with fascinating characters easy to become attached to. I enjoyed everything about it except the ending. Too much was left unresolved.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    A beautiful story about love, loss, growing up, and having to courage to let go.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I really thought this book was going to give me alot more of the "feels" than it did. It felt somewhat dry throughout the story. When originally picking it up I thought I would be a blubbering fool by the end of the book but I was sooo let down. There were so many ways the story could have ended but it just seemed to drop off, not a fan at all.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    A children's book just punched me in the damn feels. WTF? When did I start having feelings? I highly recommend this to everyone at any age. Its about the cost of war, family, loyalty, breaking cycles, and selflessness. It's about so much more than a boy and his fox. Ouch. I'm going to go drink a scotch.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This book made me sad.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This was a recommendation and not, frankly, a book I would normally have chosen for myself. That's right: I'm one of those people with PTSD flashbacks from books like Old Yeller and The Yearling and Where the Red Fern Grows. I was warned outright that this book went a bit "dark" - which I suppose it does, for mid-grade children's fiction. What I might prefer to say is that it doesn't shy away from reality. In many ways, Sara Pennypacker's book is completely allegorical: it takes place in an unnamed country, during an unnamed war. Pax and his human boy are two of only three fully drawn characters in the novel. Pennypacker's approach works, though: the story hits hard without feeling "messagey," and the stakes are high without feeling overwhelming. In particular, I liked the way she eschewed both the emotionally simplistic Hollywood ending and the overly cynical conclusion you might expect. Instead, she manages to hit a sweet spot: satisfaction without sentimentality, triumph without a return to status quo. A good book, easy to recommend - and, thankfully, not the next Watership Down (in the best possible, least traumatizing sense!).
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    ..........SPOILERS..........Pax by Sara Pennypacker is the story of a fox and his boy who are separated because of a war.Plot 4/5: While the plot wasn't what I was expecting, I found this story to be very moving.Characters 5/5: The characters are very well written.World building 4/5: This story is mainly set in two places, the woods and one of the characters homes.Pacing 4/5: The pacing is steady.Writing 5/5: This story is written in the point of view of the fox and the fox's boy.Overall 4.4: Although this story wasn't what I expected, it is a wonderfully written story of two lives that become separated and them trying to find each other again. Favorite Quote: "We all own a beast called anger. It can serve us: many good things come of anger at bad things; many unjust things are made just. But first we all have to figure out how to civilize it." - VolaFavorite character: Pax and Vola
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I'M NOT CRYING, YOU'RE CRYING! This book is exactly why I stay away from books about animals. I teared up at the beginning and I sobbed at the end. Pax is about a boy and his fox and the on coming war. Peter has to leave his fox, Pax, behind in the woods because his dad joined the military and he has to go live with his grandpa, but right away he realizes what a terrible mistake he has made and must go find Pax. The story explores the cost of war that might not be thought about usually and how it can affect everything in different ways. This story is sad, but has a good uplifting message. I felt at times the plot could of been smoother and maybe more information about the characters and the background. The fox chapters are all amazing though and emotional. Ugh. Definitely not a book just for children, any age can appreciate the story and message.

    Pax the fox does not die.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Nothing can carry you away like a great book for older children, for kids who need stories to help them with the terrible and exhilarating task of understanding who they are, what values they hold, and what their mission will be in a world that’s more challenging than they could have understood a few years ago, or last year, or last month. A slow reader, I picked this book up at about 8:00 pm and didn’t put it down until I finished at two in the morning. The boy hero of this book has raised a fox, Pax, from a kit since he found it abandoned five years ago, and now his father, who is going off to war, makes him abandon it in the woods before being sent to live with his grandfather. Within hours the boy realizes that not resisting his father (an angry and sometimes violent man) was the first terrible mistake of his life, and he sets out to find his fox—now hundreds of miles away, in sparsely populated country, across deep woods.Meanwhile, the fox has his own adventures. Never having learned to hunt, he’s nearly helpless in the woods, and although he quickly meets other foxes, the leader of the band has a hatred of humans and deeply mistrusts Pax because of the human scent he carries. The chapters from Pax’s perspective are fascinating and almost completely convincing, one of the best fictional attempts to assume an animal’s point of view. The book alternates between the boy’s story and the fox’s story until the stories converge at the end.There are big surprises in both stories, and narrative punches are not pulled. Before age 10 (or 11?) I would not have been able to easily handle this book, particularly the scenes in which animals are hurt. After 14, I would have rejected it as too idealistic. It’s not idealistic—like a surprising ally the boy finds on his journey, it’s hard-headed about the decisions one has to make in life and what they cost. If you’re a person who still needs stories to help make sense of life, you’ll want to read this book.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    As the book opens, Peter, following his fathers orders, sends his pet fox, Pax, away by tossing Pax's favorite toy into the woods, and then getting in the car and driving away while Pax goes to find it.The book alternates chapters from telling Peter's story after this event and telling Pax's story. Pax must survive in the wild after a life of having kibble served to him in a bowl. Peter realizes he has to right the wrong he did to Pax, runs away, and must survive in the woods himself while he travels 200 miles back to where he abandoned the pet he loved more than anything else in the world. Pax gets help from a few wild foxes he befriends. Peter gets help from Vola, an eccentric loner woman who takes him under her wing.And behind it all is a backdrop of some unspecified war going on in the area.The story of the bond between the fox and the boy is amazing, but the anti-war story is so vaguely relevant to the main plot, it's almost superfluous.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    So many 5 star reviews.?. What did I miss? I read to the kids at bedtime. We got 70% of the way through and nobody wanted to hear more. Skipped to the last chapter and we all were thankful for that. High points. The author clearly loves foxes and those chapters where the most enjoyable. Low points. Weird word choices. Did the author just open a thesaurus and find the most bizarre descriptive choice?Not an easy book to read out loud to kids. Sentence structure and word choice just leave you stumbling along in places. I actually laughed when at one point there were three big words that began with "p" in a row. All completely unnecessary.I think the author was just having a laugh. There used to be a time when I could believe the reviews and awards a book received. Somethings changed over the years and now books like this are Amazing! Best Ever!! LOOOOOvvvvveeed it! Proceed with caution.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I kept seeing this one in my feed and then it kept jumping out at me at work so I had to bring it home. It was sooo good. Loving someone enough to let them go no matter how much it hurts is never easy. This was done so well in this book. But oh boy that first chapter just about killed me.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I picked this up mainly because I'm a big fan of Jon Klassen, the illustrator. It's actually a novel with illustrations, and it made me realize that I hadn't read a novel targeting middle-schoolers in forever. This is a very good one, smart and sad in just the way kids like it.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    What a beautiful story. On the surface, it's about a boy trying to find his way back to his adopted fox. Deeper, it's about peace, the sickness of war, breaking the cycle of anger and violence, fighting self-imposed demons, surviving and moving on from guilt, self-sacrifice and bravery for the ones we love, freedom and choices. The voices of Peter and Pax ring true.From the book:What is war?Gray paused. There is a disease that strikes foxes sometimes. It causes them to abandon their ways, to attack strangers. War is a human sickness like this.Pax jumped to his feet. The war-sick—will they attack my boy?War came to the land where I lived with humans. Everything was ruined. There was fire everywhere. Many deaths, and not only of the war-sick, adult males. Children, mothers, elders of their own kind. All the animals. The men who were sick with the disease spilled their chaos over everything in their path.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Pax is the story of the friendship between a boy and his pet fox, and the lengths to which the boy goes to find his fox again after being forced by his father to let him go by the roadside. The book goes on and follows both of them as they try to find each other. Each chapter rotates between the perspective of the boy or the fox which makes it interesting to read. War and its destruction is a theme that runs through the book, even as the fox's name Pax means "peace". As the boy discovers who he really is, the fox has to discover who he is as a fox in the company of wild foxes since he was raised by the boy after being rescued as a pup. The ending is just right, not a happy ending where everything turns out okay, because in war there is no going back to the way things were. This book is meant to be read by older children, and I think especially sensitive or younger kids would be bothered by it or just miss the point.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    As an unnamed country is on the verge of war, Peter's father forces him to abandon his beloved pet fox Pax. Dropped off at his grandfather's, a guilt-stricken Peter immediately runs away to find his fox. Unfortunately he breaks his ankle on the way back and is taken in by Vola, a loner veteran with a prosthetic leg and PTSD.. Meanwhile, Pax waits loyally for Peter's sure return but the realities of living in the wild drive him to hang out with a small pack of foxes who are surer of their place in the forest. In alternating views and under challenging circumstances, boy and fox struggle to find each other. Both are scarred by their journeys which makes for a bittersweet ending: If you love it, set it free. Keep the tissues handy.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This is a compelling novel that begins with a heart-rending story of loss and separation. The subsequent journey of self-discovery, determination, and hope is told from two different perspectives, alternating between that of a twelve year old boy and his beloved fox. Both change dramatically by the end of the book. I could hardly put this book down.