Pax, Journey Home

Description: "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"--Provided by publisher.

Brief description:

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, Massachusetts, and Florida. You can visit her online at sarapennypacker.com.

Review Quotes:

"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

"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)

"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

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