Pax

Every one of these has the same answer, and that is the point. In a real battle the question is read aloud with a dozen other books in play, and students have a few seconds to place it. Here is what a battle might ask about Pax. Use them as a quiz, a trivia round, or BOTB practice.

1. 1

   Early in the book

   In what book does a boy find a faded photo of his father hugging a dog named Duke?

   ✓ Answer

   Pax by Sara Pennypacker

   While digging through a tin of plastic soldiers at his grandfather's house, Peter discovers a yellowed photo of his father with a collie-mix. The grandfather mentions they were inseparable, which makes Peter feel guilty about leaving his own pet.

2. 2

   First half

   In what book does a boy carry his mother's gold bracelet with a phoenix charm?

   ✓ Answer

   Pax by Sara Pennypacker

   Among the keepsakes Peter packs is his mother's gold bracelet with an enameled phoenix charm. She had told him the phoenix rises from its own ashes, meaning that no matter how bad things get, we can always make ourselves new again.

3. 3

   First half

   In what book does a woman keep a raccoon companion named after a French thief and poet?

   ✓ Answer

   Pax by Sara Pennypacker

   Vola shares her screened porch with a raccoon she calls Francois Villon, named after the medieval poet and thief. She leaves the porch door open so he can visit, and she sometimes scrambles him an egg in exchange for leaving her chickens alone.

4. 4

   Second half

   In what book do crows in a pecan tree warn an old fox that war is moving closer?

   ✓ Answer

   Pax by Sara Pennypacker

   On the journey south, Gray sits at the base of a pecan tree and reads alarm in the cyclone of shrieking crows. He teaches the younger fox to sense the broken air and fire that mean war is near.

5. 5

   Second half

   In what book does a woman unstring a sailor marionette so a boy must rebuild it himself?

   ✓ Answer

   Pax by Sara Pennypacker

   To teach Peter how the puppet really works, Vola unstrings the Sinbad marionette and disassembles it into a pile of parts. Peter rebuilds it himself, and after that his puppet moves smoothly.

6. 6

   Near the end

   In what book does a wild vixen get her snout stuck inside a peanut butter jar?

   ✓ Answer

   Pax by Sara Pennypacker

   Bristle gets the peanut butter jar wedged over her head and thrashes wildly before flipping onto her back. She pries it off with her hind legs, and afterward, she lets the older fox groom her for the first time.