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3.93 AVERAGE
3.93 AVERAGE
If it includes a beloved pet, it's bound to be sad, so be sure to have tissues nearby. It's so interesting how the author portrayed the foxes' behavior and the effects of war on both animals and humans. Peter's father joins the army and has to move in with his grandfather. Unfortunately, he has to give up his fox Pax, whom he raised from a young kit. Peter decides it was the wrong thing to leave Pax alone and defenseless in the forest and sets off on a journey to find him. Pax likewise wants to find his human but doesn't know where he went and decides to head back home. Along the way, he meets a group of other foxes and falls in with them as they try to find an area away from the encroaching human armies.
I tried really hard to love this because I know that it was a highly anticipated book for a lot of my book-loving friends. It just fell flat & repetitious for me. #BookADay
adventurous
challenging
emotional
mysterious
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Is it wrong that I want a fox as a pet after reading this?
The quotes on the back cover from Katherine Applegate ([b:The One and Only Ivan|11594337|The One and Only Ivan|Katherine Applegate|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1424981397s/11594337.jpg|16536239]) and Ann Martin ([b:Rain Reign|20575434|Rain Reign|Ann M. Martin|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1396393170s/20575434.jpg|39843440]) will confirm for readers of those two books that this one is right up their alley. The best reader would be age 10 to 13, animal-lovers who see themselves as solo champions for wildlife in a world that routinely disregards them.
Peter's father enlists in the army and forces Peter to abandon Pax in the woods when the entire region of the United States is evacuating because the war front is approaching. (I wonder how many readers will wish, as I did, for an occasional mention by any of the characters about the oddity of having an advancing army in a land-locked, forested rural region of the U.S.? In the last few pages of the book, we find out the war is over water, but there's no other information given about who's fighting who. The author lives in both Massachusetts and Florida - this environment felt like midwest or possible northeast, not southeast U.S.)
The story of a dramatic two weeks is told in alternating chapters from the point of view of Peter, a 12-year-old boy, and Pax, the fox he adopted 5 years earlier, shortly after Peter's mother died in a car crash and when the baby fox's entire family was killed during a cold winter.
Even at a distance of 300 miles, when Peter is delivered to his grandfather's house for the duration of the war, he feels a sense of what is happening to Pax, and is immediately and unshakably determined to return and rescue him from the wild, where the fox has no developed survival skills. His attempt to run away and walk 300 miles alone is hopeless, but luckily he happens upon Vola, a hermit survivor of a previous war, who has lived in a rustic backwoods cabin for twenty years nursing her own shame at her violent past and surviving with no electricity and only one leg.
Not everyone wants to hear a story from the point of view of a wild animal. Ordinary instincts come off as frustratingly brainless, hope seems futile, and there is no predicting when the human-centered focus of the pet will turn to nature-centered focus, but it is inevitable.
Here is what happens: Peter and Vola help one another begin to come to terms with their own shame about their violent actions in the past, in part because both of them accept the other as peaceful and compassionate. Since that is how they act in every way save for the most superficial, it's no surprise to the reader that they both are loving people under the surface - Vola's affect is harsh, abrasive, & hostile, but she begins immediately to care for Peter's physical & emotional wounds. Peter's affect is meek, sneaky, reserved, but he's observing subtle emotional content & making bold, sophisticated guesses about her motivations and potential for healing.
It will be easy to get this one into readers' hands, and they won't regret it. And yet, it annoyed me from the first page. The fox has superior senses but a natural incapacity to reason or strategize, while the boy is unable to reason or strategize because he is blinded by the very emotions that motivate him - guilt, love, compassion, fear, anger; why didn't he steal bus fare on the first day, when any idiot could figure out that walking 300 miles would take too long?
The general mood of Klassen's b&w images seems appropriate to the story, yet the foxes faces & bodies are simply too cute and therefore don't seem quite right for a story in which more than half the fox characters die brutally in human traps or explosions. (Question; were the trip wires meant to kill animals? Peter had no trouble avoiding them, even in a hurry on crutches, yet they triggered every time an animal touched them. What did that mean?)
Peter's father enlists in the army and forces Peter to abandon Pax in the woods when the entire region of the United States is evacuating because the war front is approaching. (I wonder how many readers will wish, as I did, for an occasional mention by any of the characters about the oddity of having an advancing army in a land-locked, forested rural region of the U.S.? In the last few pages of the book, we find out the war is over water, but there's no other information given about who's fighting who. The author lives in both Massachusetts and Florida - this environment felt like midwest or possible northeast, not southeast U.S.)
The story of a dramatic two weeks is told in alternating chapters from the point of view of Peter, a 12-year-old boy, and Pax, the fox he adopted 5 years earlier, shortly after Peter's mother died in a car crash and when the baby fox's entire family was killed during a cold winter.
Even at a distance of 300 miles, when Peter is delivered to his grandfather's house for the duration of the war, he feels a sense of what is happening to Pax, and is immediately and unshakably determined to return and rescue him from the wild, where the fox has no developed survival skills. His attempt to run away and walk 300 miles alone is hopeless, but luckily he happens upon Vola, a hermit survivor of a previous war, who has lived in a rustic backwoods cabin for twenty years nursing her own shame at her violent past and surviving with no electricity and only one leg.
Not everyone wants to hear a story from the point of view of a wild animal. Ordinary instincts come off as frustratingly brainless, hope seems futile, and there is no predicting when the human-centered focus of the pet will turn to nature-centered focus, but it is inevitable.
Spoiler
That a 5-year-old fox raised in captivity could learn to hunt from a 1-year-old fox within 10 days, and immediately after a jarring (but non-lethal) head injury from an explosion strains credulity, but no more than the fact that a 12-year-old boy could learn to carve realistic wood sculptures in 3 days, with no prior experience, and also walk some 50 miles alone on crutches and an injured foot, with bleeding blisters on his feet and hands.Here is what happens: Peter and Vola help one another begin to come to terms with their own shame about their violent actions in the past, in part because both of them accept the other as peaceful and compassionate. Since that is how they act in every way save for the most superficial, it's no surprise to the reader that they both are loving people under the surface - Vola's affect is harsh, abrasive, & hostile, but she begins immediately to care for Peter's physical & emotional wounds. Peter's affect is meek, sneaky, reserved, but he's observing subtle emotional content & making bold, sophisticated guesses about her motivations and potential for healing.
It will be easy to get this one into readers' hands, and they won't regret it. And yet, it annoyed me from the first page. The fox has superior senses but a natural incapacity to reason or strategize, while the boy is unable to reason or strategize because he is blinded by the very emotions that motivate him - guilt, love, compassion, fear, anger; why didn't he steal bus fare on the first day, when any idiot could figure out that walking 300 miles would take too long?
The general mood of Klassen's b&w images seems appropriate to the story, yet the foxes faces & bodies are simply too cute and therefore don't seem quite right for a story in which more than half the fox characters die brutally in human traps or explosions. (Question; were the trip wires meant to kill animals? Peter had no trouble avoiding them, even in a hurry on crutches, yet they triggered every time an animal touched them. What did that mean?)
This was a darling, sad book about a young boy grappling with trauma. Some subplots left loose but since this story is about Peter (and not, say, his father), that's all right. And you'll be rooting for Pax all the way to the end; bless me, I've always loved foxes (starting with "Robin Hood" #IYKYK).
Although this is ostensibly a "children's" book, I would caution against too young, or too naive a child from reading it. That being said, I really enjoyed the book and the character portrayals. The story was very engaging and compelling, with many unexpected twists and turns. It is a story of loyalty, determination, peace and war. The main characters are the boy Peter and the fox Pax whom he has raised from a kit. As the story unfolds, they are separated due to the impending threat of war. Both are confused and upset by this separation and both vow to find each other. The interweaving of their stories in alternating chapters was well done. They both encounter new friends in their quest to find each other and these friends prove to be great finds. Sara Pennypacker has given us a new classic!
I'm conflicted about this book. It was well written for the age group and it is a great story about a boy wanting to reunite with his pet, but it had a dark undertone to it with war, death, and sacrifice that made me sad and fretful while reading it. It reminded me a lot of the Disney movie The Fox and the Hound and maybe that is why reading this made me so sad. I was also confused about the character Vola. Although she was an interesting person that I would like to read a whole story about, I just didn't quite get why she was such a big part of the story. Still all-in-all it was a great read, just be prepared for some tears.
What am I supposed to do with this book- care? No thanks. This is a tiny novel about war and foxes. My favorite poet, Richard Siken, has a poetry collection named 'The War of the Foxes.' Read the poems instead.
Another book my daughter and I have read together so we can discuss. Such a lovely story. I really love the interaction between all the characters: people and people, animals and people, animals and animals. I need to read more by Ms. Pennypacker.