Fox Forever (Jenna Fox Chronicles #3)

by Mary E. Pearson Narrated by Matthew Brown

Overview

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.

With 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.

A Macmillan Audio production.

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly

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.)

From the Publisher

Raises the ante in unexpected ways until the very last page.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review on The Adoration of Jenna Fox

“This is a beautiful blend of science fiction, medical thriller, and teen-relationship novel that melds into a seamless whole that will please fans of all three genres.” —School Library Journal, starred review on The Adoration of Jenna Fox

“[An] outstanding examination of identity, science and ethics.” —Kirkus Reviews, starred review on The Adoration of Jenna Fox

“This novel is truly unlike any other I have ever read and is a breath of fresh air.” —ELLEgirl on The Adoration of Jenna Fox

“This is an amazingly powerful, thought-provoking, just brilliant novel.” —Teen Book Review on The Adoration of Jenna Fox

“Riveting, thought-provoking.” —Suzanne Collins, author of The Hunger Games on The Fox Inheritance

“A dazzling blend of science fiction, mystery, and teen friendship drama.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review on The Fox Inheritance

“Gripping, urgent, and highly appealing.” —School Library Journal on The Fox Inheritance

“You'll have no problem getting wrapped up in Locke, Kara, and Jenna's fascinating (and slightly terrifying) story, even if you haven't read the first novel.” —Seventeen.com on The Fox Inheritance

“A crucial, memorable conclusion for readers.” —Kirkus Reviews on Fox Forever

“The denouement offers Locke and Jenna an opportunity for closure in their relationship, and the final chapter, set thirty years later, brings the trilogy to a satisfying conclusion.” —The Horn Book on Fox Forever

“Will grip readers.” —Booklist on Fox Forever

School Library Journal - Audio

Gr 9 Up—In the thrilling and brilliant conclusion (Holt, 2013) to Pearson's Jenna Fox Chronicles, Locke Jenkins has finally been able to escape the malicious Dr. Gatsbro with the aide of the Network. He heads for Boston to repay the Favor owed for their assistance. Locke wants nothing more than to complete his task so that he can return to Jenna Fox in California and have the chance to be with the girl that he's loved for almost 300 years. What Locke finds in Boston, though, causes him to question his feelings and his ideals. Locke's task is to retrieve the leader of the Resistance, Karden, a man thought to have been dead for the last 16 years. To do so, Locke must win over the teenage daughter of the government official holding Karden captive. Drawn deep into the struggle between the corrupt government and the Network, Locke finds himself defining who he wants to be in the hundreds of years he may have left to live, and who he believes should be beside him as he goes into the future. Matthew Brown's even tones and deliberate pacing brilliantly capture Locke as he moves through Pearson's explorations into morality, societal relationships, government control, and what truly defines humanity. The final events of the book not only give listeners the end of Locke's story, but also bring an emotionally satisfying conclusion to Jenna's tale. For all library collections circulating the first two titles.—Jessica Miller, West Springfield Public Library, MA

MAY 2013 - AudioFile

In a futuristic Boston, bioengineered teenager Locke Jenkins accepts a secret rescue mission from The Network, an underground group that fights government injustice. To succeed, he must befriend Raine, a government official’s daughter—but their friendship quickly turns to love. Locke hides his mission from Raine as he wrests a political prisoner from her father’s keeping. While narrator Matthew Brown’s voice is an appropriate match for Locke, his phrasing is not always smooth. Further, his easygoing pace combined with the story’s ruminative quality makes for an audio that moves slowly. A more intense narration might have compensated for the cerebral nature of the story. This audiobook may elicit interest from listeners familiar with the first two books in the trilogy. C.A. © AudioFile 2013, Portland, Maine

Kirkus Reviews

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)

Product Details

BN ID:	2940171982393
Publisher:	Macmillan Audio
Publication date:	03/19/2013
Series:	Jenna Fox Chronicles , #3
Edition description:	Unabridged
Age Range:	10 - 13 Years

Read an Excerpt

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

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