PAX by Sara Pennypacker

If you are a Global Read Aloud participant, you will be very familiar with PAX by Sara Pennypacker. If you are not familiar with GRA, check it out using the link above or on Facebook. You will find excellent ideas and discussion to use with your students for this book.

PAX is the story of a boy and the fox he has raised from a kit.  Peter has to go live with his grandfather when his father goes to war and he is unable to take PAX, his fox, with him.  However, not long after arriving at his grandfather's, Peter decides he needs to return to find PAX. His journey is full of adventure and misadventure. PAX is a story about friendship and love, but it is also about war and conflict.

PAX would be a great selection for a read aloud for middle grade students and will have an effect on all who read it. The novel features illustrations by Canadian Jon Klassen (author of the Hat books).

You can find an interview with Sara Pennypacker at this link. (It will take you to the School Library Journal website.  Wait after clicking the link as an ad appears, but it disappears soon and provides the interview with the author.)

If you loved The One and Only Ivan, you will probably like PAX. See what Ivan's author Katherine Applegate says about PAX.

You can vote for PAX in the current Goodreads Choice Awards 2016. It has been suggested as a potential Newberry nominee as well.

Leave a comment if your students have been reading PAX. I am curious to know how they liked the book.  It is a novel that requires discussion--I think readers will want to talk about many issues encountered within the pages of the book.