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Pax, Journey Home Characters

Peter is a 13-year-old boy who lost his mother when he was seven and his father just a few months prior during the war. His father made him return his pet fox, Pax, to the wild. Peter believes he can protect himself by cutting himself off from all community. Even though he lives with a woman who cares for him, Peter had decided to return to the house where he once lived with his parents. The town is abandoned because the water is unfit to drink, but Peter believes he will only be safe from further pain if he is alone.

Peter is a dynamic character as he works through the stage of grief and healing with his physical trip back to the mill site where he last saw Pax and his father. Peter also returns to his childhood home where he symbolically says goodbye to his old...

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Book Review

Pax, journey home.

• Sara Pennypacker
• Children's Fiction

Readability Age Range

• 8 to 12 years old
• Balzer + Bray (An Imprint of Harper Collins)
• A New York Times bestseller

Year Published

Thirteen-year-old Peter is struggling with his overwhelming feelings of loss and guilt because of the past war. Both of Peter’s parents are dead and he was forced to send away his pet fox, Pax. Meanwhile, Pax has begun a family with his mate. But when one of the young kits falls ill, Pax can only think of one solution. He must return to the human boy who once saved him.

Plot Summary

Pax is a fox. And though he may look like any other fox you might spot running through the wooded growth, he’s actually quite a bit different. Pax, you see, was once a friend of a human boy; a boy who saved him as a kit and raised him back to health. And by the time they were forced to part ways—for reasons Pax still doesn’t understand—Pax had learned that not all humans are dangerous. Some can be trusted. Some are good.

Now that Pax is a father, after finding a beloved mate named Bristle, he teaches his kits that valuable lesson, too. There are many dangers in the wild. And humans and their machines can be dangerous. But not all. Not all.

At the same time that Pax is teaching his new family and making a home at the Deserted Farm, his boy, 13-year-old Peter, is struggling mightily. The just-past war has taken so much from him. His parents are both dead. He was forced to send away his pet fox. And he was sent away too, to survive on his own since his grandfather—the only living family he has—is too bitter and distrustful to show Peter kindness. A local woman named Vola has opened her home and life to him, but it’s not the same.

Besides, Peter refuses to grow close to Vola, no matter her goodness. People and things he loves tend to die or leave. So, giving love is something Peter cannot do. He’s convinced that life is filled with too much pain to be shared. Peter’s overwhelming sense of loss and grief and guilt all make it plain what he must do.

Now that he’s stronger, Peter will join the Water Warriors for a time. This group, which analyzes and repair waterways that were poisoned during the war, will give Peter an opportunity to make his way back home. There he’ll move into the abandoned house his family used to live in. And he’ll be alone. That’s best.

Life can indeed seem filled with pain sometimes, whether you’re a boy or a fox. Pax sees that too, after his beloved little vixen kit gets sick and grows weaker and weaker. He has no way of knowing that the pond he took her to drink from was poisoned by chemicals that have killed everything that once lived in and around it. She soon begins stumbling and falling, no matter her effort.

But life can offer goodness and hope, too. When Pax catches a scent on the wind that he hasn’t smelled in a very long time, he realizes there might be a chance for his kit. It’s the smell of his boy! Surely the boy will know what to do. The boy helped him. The boy is good. But will the boy be good enough? Will he crack open his locked-down emotional protections?  Will he be able to help?

Healing comes in many forms. And two old friends desperately need the healing power of love right now.

Christian Beliefs

There’s no references to faith in God in this story, but thoughtful readers can find biblical parallels to the power of love, redemption and forgiveness in this tale.

Other Belief Systems

There are certain beliefs that the central characters are operating with here. The harsh things of war and life have left Peter with the belief that he must be strong and relationship-free if he hopes to survive. Caring about people and things only brings him pain. So, he avoids intimacy with other people and jams down memories of his family—and that includes Pax. In fact, when painful, guilt-filled thoughts of abandoning Pax bubble up, Peter creates a mental “penance” that he repeats until the feelings subside. He imagines the day he found the wounded kit, and instead of rescuing it, he takes his father’s advice and leaves the animal to die. Peter repeats this penance almost like a prayer.

On the other hand, Pax’s belief system is much more rudimentary. He knows what is dangerous, what is safe, what is bad, what is good. His beliefs are not self-deferential or self-absorbed, as a human’s might be. They just are. And that’s exactly how he communicates with his kits and those he loves. One of his strongest beliefs is an unswerving faith in Peter.

Authority Roles

Vola is a loving older woman who welcomes Peter in and with time offers to, in a sense, adopt him and give him half of what she has now—and everything when she passes. Hers is a tough love, but a sincere one that greets with open arms while not forcing anything on the struggling boy. In fact, Vola’s levelheaded and wise approach to those in her life also sways Peter’s grandfather. He’s a decidedly grumpy and recalcitrant individual who slowly comes around to understanding both Peter and Vola, and he even reaches out for a better connection with his grandson.

Samuel and Jade are a twenty-something pair of Water Warriors that Peter realizes are a couple. (They eventually marry.) He travels with them at first because he thinks their romantic feelings for each other will allow him to keep to himself. But Peter soon learns that they both are easy people to connect with. And Jade in particular has a special “secret weapon of kindness” that disarms him and draws him in. The three grow close. And during a particularly emotional moment when Peter remembers his parents, Samuel and Jade hug and comfort the emotionally shaken boy. In fact, it’s because of them that Peter begins to consider the possibility of facing and working through his past wounds.

In his own way Pax is a great illustration of what human parents should be. He thinks and communicates from his own animal perspective, but he’s willing to go to any and every extreme to protect and aid his kits—particularly his sick and near-death young vixen kit.

Profanity & Violence

No foul language or alcohol. There is, however, quite a bit of danger and peril here. Peter remembers the war that killed his father. He thinks back on his mother’s death as well. (None of those memories are visually violent, but they could still be disturbing for younger readers.) Peter also focuses on different versions of his “penance” which readers could find upsetting. And later, in an effort to protect himself emotionally, Peter picks up a rifle to kill a wounded animal (before turning from that path).

On the animal front, the foxes must be constantly wary of dangerous predators. Pax’s young daughter is snatched up by a large owl and almost taken away, but for his quick actions breaking the bird’s thigh and leg bone. Animals are threatened and burned by fires and explosions. Pax and a kit are swept over a waterfall and almost drown. And the poisonous waters, caused as an aftereffect of the war, are an ever-present danger as well. Animals are poisoned and Pax finds burrows and nests of other animals that have died from the poisons. In a very powerful sense this story is able to communicate the need for clean water and the incredible danger and deadliness of thoughtless man-made pollution.

Sexual Content

None, other than some loving fox licks.

Discussion Topics

Get free discussion questions for other books at FocusOnTheFamily.com/discuss-books .

Why do you think Peter creates his imaginary “penance” when thinking about Pax? How did he think it would help him? Compare that to Pax’s thoughts about his new kits and growing family. What do you think the book is trying to say about family?

Why do you think Peter’s grandfather was so negative and harsh to people around him? Why do you think that began to change? For that matter, Peter went through some pretty important emotional changes. What do you think caused that change?

When Pax handed his suffering kit off to Peter, what do you think he was feeling? Both Pax and Peter express grief over lost loved ones. How are they alike and different? How do you think Pax’s choice to leave his daughter affected both Pax and Peter? Are there some biblical parallels that these kinds of choices bring to mind? What is the importance of the name (Sliver) that Peter gives to Pax’s kit?

What do you think this story is saying about starting over after something bad happens?

Additional Comments

Pax, Journey Home is a sequel to the award-winning first book Pax. But it stands alone without having to read that first book if you choose. It contains some powerful messages about family, adoption, forgiveness and friendship for thoughtful young readers. And the book holds a clear positive message about environmental conservation.

You can request a review of a title you can’t find at [email protected] .

Book reviews cover the content, themes and worldviews of fiction books, not necessarily their literary merit, and equip parents to decide whether a book is appropriate for their children. The inclusion of a book’s review does not constitute an endorsement by Focus on the Family.

Reviewed by Bob Hoose

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PAX, JOURNEY HOME

by Sara Pennypacker ; illustrated by Jon Klassen ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 7, 2021

An impressive sequel.

Boy and fox follow separate paths in postwar rebuilding.

A year after Peter finds refuge with former soldier Vola, he prepares to leave to return to his childhood home. He plans to join the Junior Water Warriors, young people repurposing the machines and structures of war to reclaim reservoirs and rivers poisoned in the conflict, and then to set out on his own to live apart from others. At 13, Peter is competent and self-contained. Vola marvels at the construction of the floor of the cabin he’s built on her land, but the losses he’s sustained have left a mark. He imposes a penance on himself, reimagining the story of rescuing the orphaned kit Pax as one in which he follows his father’s counsel to kill the animal before he could form a connection. He thinks of his heart as having a stone inside it. Pax, meanwhile, has fathered three kits who claim his attention and devotion. Alternating chapters from the fox’s point of view demonstrate Pax’s care for his family—his mate, Bristle; her brother; and the three kits. Pax becomes especially attached to his daughter, who accompanies him on a journey that intersects with Peter’s and allows Peter to not only redeem his past, but imagine a future. This is a deftly nuanced look at the fragility and strength of the human heart. All the human characters read as White. Illustrations not seen.

Pub Date: Sept. 7, 2021

ISBN: 978-0-06-293034-7

Page Count: 256

Publisher: Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins

Review Posted Online: June 28, 2021

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2021

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES | CHILDREN'S SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

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THE SCHOOL FOR GOOD AND EVIL

From the school for good and evil series , vol. 1.

by Soman Chainani ; illustrated by Iacopo Bruno ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 14, 2013

Rich and strange (and kitted out with an eye-catching cover), but stronger in the set pieces than the internal logic.

Chainani works an elaborate sea change akin to Gregory Maguire’s Wicked (1995), though he leaves the waters muddied.

Every four years, two children, one regarded as particularly nice and the other particularly nasty, are snatched from the village of Gavaldon by the shadowy School Master to attend the divided titular school. Those who survive to graduate become major or minor characters in fairy tales. When it happens to sweet, Disney princess–like Sophie and  her friend Agatha, plain of features, sour of disposition and low of self-esteem, they are both horrified to discover that they’ve been dropped not where they expect but at Evil and at Good respectively. Gradually—too gradually, as the author strings out hundreds of pages of Hogwarts-style pranks, classroom mishaps and competitions both academic and romantic—it becomes clear that the placement wasn’t a mistake at all. Growing into their true natures amid revelations and marked physical changes, the two spark escalating rivalry between the wings of the school. This leads up to a vicious climactic fight that sees Good and Evil repeatedly switching sides. At this point, readers are likely to feel suddenly left behind, as, thanks to summary deus ex machina resolutions, everything turns out swell(ish).

Pub Date: May 14, 2013

ISBN: 978-0-06-210489-2

Page Count: 496

Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins

Review Posted Online: Feb. 12, 2013

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2013

CHILDREN'S SCIENCE FICTION & FANTASY | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

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NOWHERE BOY

by Katherine Marsh ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 7, 2018

A captivating book situated in present-day discourse around the refugee crisis, featuring two boys who stand by their high...

Two parallel stories, one of a Syrian boy from Aleppo fleeing war, and another of a white American boy, son of a NATO contractor, dealing with the challenges of growing up, intersect at a house in Brussels.

Ahmed lost his father while crossing the Mediterranean. Alone and broke in Europe, he takes things into his own hands to get to safety but ends up having to hide in the basement of a residential house. After months of hiding, he is discovered by Max, a boy of similar age and parallel high integrity and courage, who is experiencing his own set of troubles learning a new language, moving to a new country, and being teased at school. In an unexpected turn of events, the two boys and their new friends Farah, a Muslim Belgian girl, and Oscar, a white Belgian boy, successfully scheme for Ahmed to go to school while he remains in hiding the rest of the time. What is at stake for Ahmed is immense, and so is the risk to everyone involved. Marsh invites art and history to motivate her protagonists, drawing parallels to gentiles who protected Jews fleeing Nazi terror and citing present-day political news. This well-crafted and suspenseful novel touches on the topics of refugees and immigrant integration, terrorism, Islam, Islamophobia, and the Syrian war with sensitivity and grace.

Pub Date: Aug. 7, 2018

ISBN: 978-1-250-30757-6

Page Count: 368

Publisher: Roaring Brook Press

Review Posted Online: June 10, 2018

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2018

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Pax: Journey Home

Buy from other retailers, what's this book about.

From 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. A New York Times bestseller!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.

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The Creatives Behind the Book

Sara Pennypacker is the author of the #1 New York Times bestselling Pax; the award-winning Clementine books and its spinoff series, Waylon!; and the acclaimed novel Summer of the Gypsy Moths. She divides her time between Cape Cod, Massachusetts, and Florida. You can visit her online at www.sarapennypacker.com.

Jon Klassen is the author-illustrator of I Want My Hat Back, a Theodor Seuss Geisel Honor Book; This Is Not My Hat, winner of the Caldecott Medal and the Kate Greenaway Medal; and We Found a Hat. He is also the illustrator of two Caldecott Honor books, Sam and Dave Dig a Hole and Extra Yarn, both written by Mac Barnett. Jon Klassen lives in Los Angeles.

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• Kirkus Reviews (starred review): "Moving and poetic.”
• Booklist (starred review): “Pennypacker’s expert, evenhanded storytelling reveals stunning depth in a relatively small package.”
• Katherine Applegate, Newbery Award-winning author of The One and Only Ivan: “Searingly honest and heartbreakingly lovely, Pax is, quite simply, a masterpiece.”
• Ann M. Martin, Newbery Honoree, author of Rain Reign: “A sweeping and enchanting wartime story of trust, loyalty, betrayal, and the love of a boy for the fox he’s raised since he was a kit. A master storyteller, Pennypacker leads the reader along a path of shifting hopes to the story’s heart-wrenching conclusion.”
• School Library Journal (starred review): "With spare, lyrical prose, Pennypacker manages to infuse this tearjerker with a tender hope, showing that peace and love can require just as much sacrifice as war. VERDICT A startling work of fiction that should be read—and discussed—by children and adults alike."

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Cover Reveal: 'Pax, Journey Home'

Sequel to 2016 novel picks up tale of the fox and his boy.

“Kadir Nelson once said that he was compelled to make beautiful what had been ugly,” said Sara Pennypacker, whose next middle grade novel, Pax, Journey Home (HarperCollins/Balzer + Bray) will be released this September. “Other people want to fix what has been broken. For me, I have to write a book that makes something that was unjust, just.”

Pax, Journey Home resumes the story begun in her 2016 bestselling release, Pax , which has sold more than 900,000 copies to date: Peter, the motherless son of a soldier, rescues an orphaned red fox and keeps him as a pet until his father forces him to abandon Pax in the woods five years later. Peter’s father then goes off to war and Peter is sent to live with his grandfather 300 miles away, but soon runs away from his new home in search of his beloved Pax. Meanwhile, Pax encounters a skulk of foxes, who teach him how to survive in the wild. The tale alternates between the boy and the fox’s perspectives.

Pennypacker said that she received “a ton of letters” from readers wanting to know what happened after Peter and Pax are reunited in the novel’s closing pages. Calling the conclusion of Pax “a great ending,” Pennypacker said that she initially resisted writing a sequel because she wanted readers to feel “that the right thing happened” to Peter and Pax. “If your emotional investment was to get Peter and Pax back together again, you can imagine that. If it was to know that they both went on and became who they were supposed to be, I left room for that.”

After her agent, Steven Malk, informed her that he too was receiving letters from readers wanting to know what happens next to Peter and Pax, Pennypacker recalled that, “for some reason” she responded, “Of course I know what happens.” She then wove a tale for Malk narrating what happened to Pax after he left Peter to rejoin his four-legged companions. “I went on and on in great detail. I then realized I had just given him an entire plot summary of a novel.”

Although Pennypacker swore Malk to secrecy, he called her a short time later to confess that he had just gotten off the phone with her editor, Donna Bray. Pennypacker remembers Malk telling her, “I hope it’s okay but I couldn’t help myself. I told your editor and she would like a phone call.”

In Pax, Journey Home , Peter, who is mourning his losses while grappling with feelings of guilt and alienation, embarks upon a journey back to his home with two military veterans who are part of a community calling themselves Water Warriors who are working to heal the land from the scars of war. Meanwhile, Pax mates with Bristle and becomes a father. When one of his kits becomes disabled after drinking poisoned water, Pax searches out Peter to obtain his help in saving the kit from certain death in the wild.

“The most important thing for me to say about Pax 2 is that I couldn’t believe how lucky I was to get to be a fox again,” Pennypacker said, explaining that she was able to write from Pax’s perspective after realizing that an essential difference between animals and humans is that animals lack introspection. She wrote from Pax’s point of view, she said, “as if I am a human who is not neurotic and not self-reflective. Everything that happens, I am not going to process it through how others are going to think of me.”

As with Pax , Pennypacker’s impetus for writing Pax, Journey Home was to spotlight injustice. “I really feel that the things that happen to children and animals during war,” she said, “we never take them into account. They’re not part of the calculus for those in charge who decide to go to war. How many foxes will be killed? We never do any of those kinds of calculations. It doesn’t seem fair to me.”

But Pennypacker also wanted to emphasize the bonds that emerge among those from different backgrounds who come together to fight against a common enemy.

“It feels really good to be in a brotherhood, or sisterhood,” she explained of her research into the military community, “And it’s really important to a lot of people to know they’re valued, where they’re contributing to an incredibly important cause. I wanted to say something about that.” As for the Water Warriors, she added, “They use all the good parts about the military—the machinery, the organization, the manpower, the ability to work together and be a team—for a much better cause.”

Pennypacker also strived in Pax, Journey Home to address a topic that isn’t usually addressed in children’s books, as typically, the main character in a children’s book is a child: the experience of parenthood. “I have a character of reproductive age,” she said, “That’s a pretty rare thing in a children’s book and I wanted to go there.” She hopes, she said, that Pax’s love for his kits and the sacrifices he makes to protect the runt of his litter will “give kids some insight into how their parents feel about them—or should feel about them.”

Impressionistic Cover Art Sets the Mood

Jon Klassen, who created the cover art and illustrated the interior of Pax , also drew the cover art for Pax, Journey Home and will produce the interior illustrations. Whereas Pax ’s cover portrayed a fox gazing over the land as the sun rises (or sets), its sequel portrays a fox and his kit looking out over another landscape, this one bounded by rivers. Although the sun shines, there are menacing storm clouds above the orb.

“The trick became,” Klassen said, “how do we make it look very different or at least different from a distance but still look like a set?” He pointed out that his perception was that Pax, Journey Home was “a little darker” than Pax , “due to everyone’s mood and what Peter was going through. And then there was this rain and everything that was going on with water.” Thus, Klassen added the storm clouds, to create the ambiance and a sense that “there’s an emotional storm coming for everybody in this book.”

Klassen added that, because Pennypacker is so precise in her writing, “you know where everything is, how everything feels,” thus freeing him to create impressionistic cover art for both books, explaining, “She goes into such detail in the text, I didn’t feel the need to establish anything literal on the covers as far as what rivers we’re talking about or where things are geographically, or even what the characters look like from the front.” In fact, he confessed, when he tried to draw Pax and his kit facing forward, the effect was “cartoony.” Facing the foxes looking away from the reader worked best, he noted, saying, “It’s mysterious that way but also helps stylistically.”

As for Pennypacker’s reactions to the new cover art, “I didn’t think it could be done but it’s more beautiful, even more evocative than the first,” she told PW .” The first cover was just amazing. This one is even more so.”

After writing such an intense novel, it should come as no surprise that Pennypacker is stepping back and is now working on what may be “the most humorous of all the books I’ve ever written,” categorizing it as “in between a chapter book and novel.” Describing it as "outrageous and funny," Pennypacker said that it’s also highly topical. “It has a lot to say about folks who worship money and power. It may be a bit pointed, I don’t know. Mostly, it’s just hilarious. My writing group told me I am no longer allowed to write serious books—they prefer this.”

Pax, Journey Home by Sara Pennypacker. HarperCollins/Balzer + Bray, 17.99 Sept. ISBN 978-0-06- 293034-7

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In ‘Pax’ sequel, Pennypacker gives story a satisfying ending

Sara Pennypacker has brought readers a sequel to her New York Times bestseller, “Pax.” Published in 2016, “Pax” is about a fox and his boy separated by war and desperate to reunite. Finally at the end of the book, they do find each other, after Peter, the boy, has broken his foot and grown stronger for it, and Pax, the fox, joins wild foxes, learning how to survive on his own. Peter lets him go on his way, knowing Pax has found a new family and is where he should be. It ends, and you want more.

“Pax, Journey Home” starts a year after the events of the first book. Peter is living with Vola, the woman who helped him after he broke his foot, and Pax is with the foxes that took him in during the first book. There are always high expectations with sequels for books like “Pax,” which can be tough to live up to. This book addresses loss, grief and the effects of war – socially, emotionally and environmentally.

Peter is subject to a great deal of loss in both books – his mother, his father and his fox – and tries to shut himself off from those who care for him to prevent any more pain. New characters in the sequel foster emotional development, warning that no matter how hard he tries, something will slip in, making him care again. Of course, they end up being proven right.

The war that was starting in “Pax” has ended by the second book, but people’s lives are still in ruin. The background of both stories is inhabited by the war, but Pennypacker doesn’t give specifics about it. In “Pax,” you are sort of told the conflict is about water, but you don’t know who it is with. She is using this tactic with the setting, as well – you aren’t told where you are, only geographic details that you get to put together in your head.

The effects of the war have had an impact not only on the humans displaced by conflict and lack of clean water, but on the wildlife, as well. Pax’s own family is threatened by unseen dangers left lurking by combat. There are groups working to reverse the damage left by the war, but it might already be too late. It should make readers think critically about what we are doing to the world around us. Are we willing to risk the health of our water and the ecosystems it supports for things as petty as our own conflict and profit?

Both books should be a big hit with kids in elementary school (to listen to or read), with parents and teachers also enjoying them. I found “Journey Home’s” ending very satisfying – it will let you sigh with a smile on your face once you finish it, unlike “Pax,” which left me wanting more, wanting a sequel.

Sylvie Manz is a sophomore at Lewis and Clark High school.

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MG Book Village

a place for Middle Grade book-lovers to share and connect

Interview with Sara Pennypacker about PAX, JOURNEY HOME

Kathie: Hi Sara, and welcome to MG Book Village. I’m so glad to have the opportunity to chat with you about PAX, JOURNEY HOME, which comes out on September 7th from Balzer & Bray. I loved reconnecting with Pax and Peter and discovering what’s happened in their lives since we last saw them. Can you tell our readers what to expect in this sequel?

Sara: The sequel takes place a year after the first book ended, and it’s been a busy time.  Pax and Bristle are parents – this isn’t much of a spoiler if you’ve seen the gorgeous cover by Jon Klassen – and readers will spend time with the fox kits as they grow. Peter has spent the year at Vola’s where he’s learning to work with wood and building himself a cabin, but he’s had a new loss. 

Kathie: There are five years between the publication of Pax and this new story. At what point did you start writing this second adventure, and what perspective did you get about your characters during that time?

Sara: For a couple of years after PAX came out, I was certain there would be no sequel. I had deliberately left PAX’s ending a bit ambiguous, and I was not surprised to hear from readers that they kept wondering what happened after that final scene. What did surprise me was that I would keep thinking about it! Mostly I worried: Poor Peter, carrying so much loss on his young shoulders, and Pax, making his way in the unfamiliar wild world. One day I was talking to my agent about the things I thought might happen in the following year, and as I was talking, we both realized I had another book. 

Kathie: I really loved watching Peter and Pax reunite, and the trust that Pax has in Peter even when Peter struggles to believe he’s worthy of it. What do you enjoy about writing from the perspective of a fox?

Sara:  All the fox scenes, even the ones that included danger, were a joy for me. To write from  that viewpoint you need to stay in the moment and to pay attention to the natural environment at all times: Is there danger from the sky? Is there something to eat below the ground? In contrast to how I wrote Peter, I never had Pax worry about past mistakes or about how he might be judged. It was very freeing – maybe animals have something to teach us! 

Kathie: Both Peter and Pax grew during their year apart, and developed new relationships. What influence do you think their time together had on their ability to connect with others?

Sara:  First, it’s important to notice the differences: Peter spent the year closing himself off and convincing himself he had no need for family, while Pax did the exact opposite – he fit himself joyfully into his wild environment and welcomed a new family with boundless love. But both remembered their time together and neither grew bitter or distrustful. Pax remained a little more at ease around humans and Peter’s closeness with Pax left him more comfortable in wilderness. 

Kathie: There’s a strong environmental theme in this story. What message would you like readers to take away from it?

Sara: Oh, boy. Yes, there is an environmental theme, but I hope I don’t come off as trying to send a message – that’s not the job of a story-teller. I think good books should raise questions, though, and let the readers consider those questions for themselves. PAX asked the questions “What are the real costs of war and who pays them?”  PAX, JOURNEY HOME asks how can we heal after loss. One of the losses in the book was clean water – humans, animals and plants alike have been sickened by water contaminated during the war of the first book. In the sequel we see that the same organization, equipment and personel can be repurposed to clean up the water.

Kathie: What is your involvement in the illustration process? Do you collaborate with Jon Klassen or does your work occur separately?

Sara: I have almost no involvement at all, and that’s my universal position through all my books. Illustration is its own art form and I am not an expert, so I just stay out of the way and marvel at it afterward! 

Kathie: Will we see more stories about Pax and Peter, or are you working on something new at the moment?

Sara: No, I am not worried about Peter and Pax anymore – they are both on good, healthy paths now – so I will not revisit them. And right now I am just finishing up a new novel – something lighter and funnier – that should come out early in 2023. 

Kathie: Thank you so much for answering my questions today, Sara, and I can’t wait for young readers to be able to pick up your book.

Sara: Me too, Kathie! It takes so long to put a novel together, and involves so much of your heart, that it’s really hard to wait until publication…and now finally that’s going to happen! It was a joy to return to the world of the foxes, and I hope that’s how it feels to readers, too. 

Sara Pennypacker  is the author of the #1  New York Times  bestselling  Pax ; its sequel  Pax, Journey Home , the award-winning Clementine series and its spinoff series, Waylon; and the acclaimed novels  Summer of the Gypsy Moths  and  Here in the Real World . She divides her time between Cape Cod, Massachusetts, and Florida. You can visit her online at  www.sarapennypacker.com .

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2 thoughts on “ Interview with Sara Pennypacker about PAX, JOURNEY HOME ”

What great insights into the inspiration for a book and how it all comes together. Thanks!

Can’t wait to re-encounter Pax and Peter!

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Pax, Journey Home Paperback – International Edition, September 7, 2021

From 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. A New York Times bestseller!

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.

• Book 2 of 2 Pax
• Print length 256 pages
• Language English
• Grade level 3 - 7
• Dimensions 7.72 x 0.98 x 5.51 inches
• Publisher Balzer + Bray
• Publication date September 7, 2021
• ISBN-10 0063206749
• ISBN-13 978-0063206748
• See all details

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Editorial Reviews

“Satisfying yet bittersweet conclusion. Klassen’s interspersed scene-setting black-and-white art adds textured layers of complexity. This sensitively imagined story effectively explores issues of human-animal connection, emotional vulnerability, the aftermath of conflict, and found family.” — The Horn Book (starred review)

“This is a deftly nuanced look at the fragility and strength of the human heart. An impressive sequel." — Kirkus Reviews   (starred review)

“The book’s message is most simply put by Pax when he tells his kit that “after loving, you are afraid,” but it is still worth it. It’s a hard heart that will keep the tears away for this one, so have plenty of tissues nearby.” — Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books

“The stakes feel higher this time, the pain deeper, making for a worthy sequel and a heartbreaking and beautifully life-affirming exploration of the concepts of home, family, and the love that makes it all worthwhile.” — Booklist

“Pennypacker brilliantly walks this tightrope of evoking the power and pain of love. The end result is a story about healing and forgiveness: healing from war, from poisons in the environment, from pain and loss, from the ways people disappoint those they love.” — New York Journal of Books

About the Author

Sara Pennypacker is the author of the New York Times bestselling Pax and Pax, Journey Home ; the award-winning Clementine series and its spinoff series, Waylon; and the acclaimed novels Summer of the Gypsy Moths and Here in the Real World . She divides her time between Cape Cod, MA, and Florida. You can visit her online at sarapennypacker.com.

Jon Klassen grew up in Niagara Falls, Canada, and now lives in Los Angeles, California. He is the New York Times bestselling author and illustrator of several books, including I Want My Hat Back and This Is Not My Hat , for which he won the Caldecott Medal. Two of his picture books have been named Caldecott Honor books: Sam and Dave Dig a Hole and Extra Yarn (winner of the Boston Globe–Horn Book Award), both by Mac Barnett. You can visit him online at www.burstofbeaden.com.

Product details

• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Balzer + Bray (September 7, 2021)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Paperback ‏ : ‎ 256 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0063206749
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0063206748
• Reading age ‏ : ‎ 9 - 11 years, from customers
• Grade level ‏ : ‎ 3 - 7
• Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 8.4 ounces
• Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 7.72 x 0.98 x 5.51 inches
• #1,605 in Children's Fox & Wolf Books (Books)
• #5,043 in Children's Multigenerational Family Life
• #24,655 in Children's Friendship Books

About the author

Jon klassen.

Jon Klassen is a Canadian-born author/illustrator. He has written and illustrated three picture books of his own and illustrated many other author’s texts. His own books are called I Want My Hat Back, This Is Not My Hat and We Found A Hat. Highlights of his illustrated books are Sam & Dave Dig A Hole by Mac Barnett, The Dark by Lemony Snicket, and his latest is The Wolf, The Duck & The Mouse also by Mac Barnett. His books have won a Caldecott medal and two Caldecott honors and other international awards.

He lives in Los Angeles, California with his wife and son.

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Pax, Journey Home Literary Elements

By sara pennypacker.

These notes were contributed by members of the GradeSaver community. We are thankful for their contributions and encourage you to make your own.

Written by Stanley Warhol

Middle Grade

Setting and Context

It is set in an unnamed country in the aftermath of a devastating war.

Narrator and Point of View

Third-person narration from the alternating viewpoints of Peter and Pax.

Tone and Mood

Mournful, Guilty, Expressive, Funny

Protagonist and Antagonist

The protagonists are Peter and Pax while the antagonist is the aftermath of the war and loss.

Major Conflict

The effects of war are the center of this narrative, as Peter has to deal with loss, grief, and also guilt. On the other hand, Pax is a father now with the responsibility of protecting the young ones from the dangers that lurk.

The climax occurs when Peter and Pax finally meet in the middle of the field but the fox leaves shortly after.

Foreshadowing

The mission by the Water Warriors of cleaning the water foreshadows Pax’s kit getting poisoned by the contaminated water.

Understatement

“It felt as if his only question had been Do I want to see Peter? and the answer had been Yes, so he’d gone. No drama, no cowardly worry about what might happen.”

The narrative alludes to the cost and repercussions of war particularly on children and animals.

“Bristle had begun carrying the kits up to the dish of sand at the den entrance on mild days. It was only a few quick steps back to safety, but Pax knew how suddenly a hawk could glide down or a coyote spring up. From this vantage point, he could see any danger coming up from the fields below the farmhouse, any from the sky. This morning, the spring air carried only the friendly scents of wild things reclaiming the Deserted Farm: honeysuckle climbing over the shed’s roof, clover narrowing the path, swallows and chipmunks nesting in the barn.”

“You are not alone when I am out of sight.”

Parallelism

The story parallels the nature of humans and animals through Peter and Pax as their resolves change with growth and maturity.

Metonymy and Synecdoche

“…he’d walked into his father’s room to look for a windbreaker”

Personification

“The afternoon sun poured onto a rectangle of floorboards”

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Pax, Journey Home Questions and Answers

The Question and Answer section for Pax, Journey Home is a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel.

Study Guide for Pax, Journey Home

Pax, Journey Home study guide contains a biography of Sara Pennypacker, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

• About Pax, Journey Home
• Pax, Journey Home Summary
• Character List