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Summary
Summary
Locke Jenkins has some catching up to do. After spending 260 years as a disembodied mind in a little black box, he has a perfect new body. But before he can move on with his unexpected new life, he'll have to return the Favor he accepted from the shadowy resistance group known as the Network.
Locke must infiltrate the home of a government official by gaining the trust of his daughter, seventeen-year-old Raine, and he soon finds himself pulled deep into the world of the resistance--and into Raine's life.
In Fox Forever , Mary E. Pearson brings the story she began in The Adoration of Jenna Fox and continued in The Fox Inheritance to a breathtaking conclusion as Locke discovers that being truly human requires much more than flesh and blood.
Author Notes
Award-winning young adult author, Mary E. Pearson, was born in 1955 in Southern California. She earned a BFA from Long Beach State University in art and received her teaching credentials from San Diego State University.
Mary's books include David v. God, Scribbler of Dreams, A Room on Lorelei Street, which won the 2006 Golden Kite Award for fiction, The Adoration of Jenna Fox, which was a finalist for the Andre Norton Award, The Miles Between, The Fox Inheritance, and Fox Forever. She is also the author of The Remnant Chronicles, which includes the books: The Kiss of Deception and The Heart of Betrayal.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (5)
Publisher's Weekly Review
Pearson completes her Jenna Fox trilogy with this gripping and bittersweet volume. Locke Jenkins, whose consciousness was stored for 260 years until illegal technological advances allowed his body to be rebuilt (and enhanced), returns to his hometown of Boston. He's left Jenna, once the love of his life, in California, taking only her urgent wish that he embrace this second chance at life. First, Locke must repay the Network, a shadowy resistance group, for engineering his escape from earlier dire circumstances. The favor they ask greatly compromises his ethics: Locke must find out where the government is hiding an imprisoned rebel leader by ingratiating himself with Raine, the beautiful and conflicted daughter of a regime official. The city Locke arrives in doesn't resemble the Boston where he grew up, but there's less futuristic world-building in this installment than in The Fox Inheritance. What remains consistent is Pearson's seamless blending of speculative science with well-plotted action, as well as her ability to create introspective characters who ask challenging questions about what it means to be both human and humane. Ages 12-up. Agent: Rosemary Stimola, Stimola Literary Studio. (Mar.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Horn Book Review
The Jenna Fox Chronicles distinguish themselves among the many dystopian novels because of their unique combination of genre appeal and literary merit, the juxtaposition of personal struggles and political turmoil, and the subtle exploration of human nature. (The premise: three teenagers killed in a car accident receive new, improved bio-engineered bodies and must survive in a society in which they are considered illegal.) In this final installment, Locke (protagonist of The Fox Inheritance, rev. 9/11) is recruited by the Resistance to find out whether their missing leader, Karden -- long presumed dead -- is really still alive, imprisoned by government Security for the past sixteen years in the hopes of recovering the eighty billion duros he stole. The plan calls for Locke to gain access to the home office of the Secretary of Security by infiltrating his daughter Raine's circle of friends. As the plot races toward its climax, Locke must find and rescue Karden and win back Raine's affection after she discovers his duplicity and betrayal -- and he must do it before the missing bank account numbers expire. The denouement offers Locke and Jenna (The Adoration of Jenna Fox, rev. 5/08) an opportunity for closure in their relationship, and the final chapter, set thirty years later, brings the trilogy to a satisfying conclusion. jonathan hunt (c) Copyright 2013. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Booklist Review
I stare at my gravestone begins the opening sentence in the third and final title in the Jenna Fox Chronicles. Bioengineering is still the core of the fast-paced action, and there is also romance as the first-person, present-tense narrative switches to Locke, 17, who returns home to Boston as part of the Resistance after 260 years of being trapped in a six-inch cube. He falls in love with Raine, daughter of the evil, powerful gangster boss. Born in different centuries, their love is amazingly timeless. Along with the bioperfect love story, the gruesome specifics will also appeal to readers, including half-human monsters without lips or eyelids. The questions will grip readers: Is it true that Raine's birth parents threw her out when she was born? Or did her father steal her from a heartbroken family? Driving the appeal of this series finale is a universal fantasy: What would it be like to return home after nearly three centuries?--Rochman, Hazel Copyright 2010 Booklist
School Library Journal Review
Gr 8 Up-Fox Forever continues the story of Jenna Fox's close friend and fellow accident victim, Locke Jenkins, restored to a body after having his consciousness stored on a hard drive for 260 years, an act both miraculous and horrifying, not to mention highly illegal. All Locke wants is a chance to live a normal life, but first he must complete the Favor he promised to the Network, a mysterious group of Non-Pacts resisting the current government. To do this, he has to return to his childhood home of Boston, a city changed but still heart-wrenchingly recognizable, and attempt to infiltrate the home of the Secretary of Security by befriending his 17-year-old daughter, Raine. He soon discovers that neither Raine nor the Favor is quite what it seems, and to help an old friend he may have to deviate from the Network's plan. Gripping and emotional, this is a more-than-satisfying conclusion to a thought-provoking trilogy.-Eliza Langhans, Hatfield Public Library, MA (c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
Picking up directly after The Fox Inheritance (2011), this colorful, high-stakes finale is a speedy thriller through the streets, neighborhoods and deserted subway tunnels of future Boston. Under Locke's skin is blue BioPerfect, capable of things he barely understands. His existence is illegal. He's determined to hunt down any backups of his consciousness that may be trapped without sensory input inside technological environments--just as his own mind spun in a pitch-black hell for 260 years, bodiless. But first he owes a Favor to the Network, an underground and undefined rebellion, so he insinuates himself into the life of Raine--wealthy daughter of a dangerous Secretary of Security--to glean information about a political prisoner and a pile of money. Fast-paced action and clear settings make for a vivid page turner, told in tight first-person. As Locke falls for Raine, his emotional desperation ratchets up. Revelations are about people's connections--past and present, tugging on threads that reach back through the series. Broad politics takes a narrative back seat to the circle of protagonists, and the treatment of minds trapped without bodies is anticlimactic for a series centered around that concept; however, the previous title's theme about Bots with human dreams reaches gratifying and tragic fruition. The mind-bending Adoration of Jenna Fox (2008) can easily stand alone, but this is a crucial, memorable conclusion for readers who have moved on to Inheritance. (Science fiction. 12 up)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Excerpts
Excerpts
The Favor I stare at my gravestone. Locke Jenkins. They paid too much for it. More than they could afford. I wonder what slick salesman talked them into it. I reach out and run my fingers over the recessed letters. The L is nearly as weathered away as the life I once had. Closure. That's what I came for, but now that I'm standing here, I think that letting go of the past doesn't come in a single moment. Maybe the past has to fade away slowly like letters in granite. Worn away over time by wind, rain, and tears. Maybe that's why they did it, ordered a ridiculously expensive gravestone for a small urn of ashes. Maybe that was their way of letting me fade away slowly. I look at their graves to the right of mine. I wish I had brought flowers for them. What kind did my mother like? I can't remember. Did I ever know? I know it's normal to forget. That's part of letting go, but my memories are all I have, my only connection to the original me. On a daily basis, I search the details of my life, the conversations, the routines, the fears, the small in-between moments that connected one day to the next, all the voices that have come and gone in my life, still whispering to me. Everything that might help me to understand who I am now. A man, a boy, a something. I promised Jenna I would find out. I glance up at a shadowy figure fifty yards away. He's been following me ever since the train station. He stoops like he's visiting a grave. He thinks that fools me? Watching my back has become second nature. But I play his game. Maybe he plans to mug me. That wouldn't be a good idea. If he's smart he'll reconsider. The phone tab in my pack vibrates, but I ignore it. I've had to wait for this world for so long, now the world will have to wait for me. My parents deserve that much. I keep waiting for a feeling that doesn't come. A realization. Maybe even a message from the universe. I only hear a graveyard full of silence. Not even the sounds of grief. I know they cried plenty for me. I never got the chance to cry for them, and now it seems too late. The world has passed me by. I fill the void with my own message instead, a whisper to my parents. "I'm okay." After 260 years it's a pretty pathetic offering, but I know that's what they'd want to hear. Or that I had just been elected president. I smile at the thought, remembering all the things they hoped I would be. They never would have guessed that I'd end up like this. My dad, at least, might be impressed, in a horrified sort of way. Yeah. I'm okay. For them, I have to be. I look up. The stranger who was following me is gone. Maybe he really was visiting someone here, his good-byes too late, just like mine. I head for the main gate of the cemetery, weaving my way through tombstones and memorials. The cemetery looks like it's been abandoned for decades, the grounds in disrepair, weeds and rubble filling spaces where grass used to grow, but I suppose the dead don't really care. My phone vibrates again. Miesha's called three times today, Jenna once, and Kayla once. Who's next? Allys? When I-- "What the hell do you think you're doing?" I spin but my feet are already flying up, my pack sailing from my shoulder, a kick at the back of my legs sending me sprawling to the ground. I roll, but he's already on me, his knee on my chest, rage in his eyes. His weight is nothing. I could toss him, smashing his skull into the stone cherub just feet away. "Back off, man. I'll give you three seconds. And then I'm going to seriously hurt you." And I will. I've learned that giving people second chances can lead to disaster. Gatsbro taught me that. He grins and that's when I recognize him. A scar slashes his face from his temple to the corner of his mouth. In an instant a blade is at my throat, no time to react or push him away. He presses it against my skin with precise pressure. " Lesson one: Never give the enemy a warning." He pushes away from me and stands, shaking his head. "Get your miserable ass off the ground and let's go." I stand, brushing the dirt from my coat. "I'm not going anywhere with you. I'm on my way to Manchester next. I've got business there." "You were told to go directly to Boston. Not here or anywhere else. You promised a Favor." "I don't always do like I'm told. You better get that straight right now." I walk over and retrieve my pack from the base of a tombstone. "I have things to take care of," I tell him. "I'll make good on my promise in a few days. Maybe less. It won't take me long to find what I need to know in Manchester." Disgust fills his face. "I knew you were the wrong person for this." He turns and walks away. "Wait a minute!" I call and follow behind him. "Wait!" I yell again. He doesn't stop. I double my stride so I'm walking next to him. "It's only a Favor. What difference does a few days make?" He stops abruptly and faces me. "Don't bother showing up in a few days. By then he might be dead." I stare at his face, trying to read it. He's exaggerating. He thinks I'm just a stupid seventeen-year-old kid. He doesn't like me. I'm not sure he likes anyone. Except maybe this person he wants to help. When I agreed to return the Favor the Network had done for me, they didn't tell me who the Favor was for or what it was they wanted me to do, but I assumed it was something small. For God's sake, they don't even know me. The Network thinks you have some special abilities that could do the job. Just how much did Jenna tell them about me? Do they know? Is that the look on Mr. F's face now? Revulsion? Am I making his skin crawl because of what I am? "What's your real name?" I ask. "I need to know that much." "For now, it stays Mr. F. You'll know more when you need to know more." And he's scared. This is more than just a Favor. Way more. What have I agreed to? I could back out right now. He'd let me. Probably even be glad if I did. To him, maybe I'm even less than a Non-pact. There's always a pecking order, no matter how lowly you are. "Let's go," I say. And I walk away with an asshole who I'm not sure I trust and who's way faster with a blade than any Non-pact should be. Text copyright © 2013 by Mary E. Pearson Excerpted from Fox Forever by Mary E. Pearson All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.
