”Pax’s knuckles turned white as his hands curled into tight fists. He tried to keep his mouth shut, drawing in deep breaths through his nose as anger threatened to boil his blood. Taking away his recycling duties, the only thing he liked doing was not just unfair, it was cruel. He couldn’t stand this treatment anymore. “No,” he whispered.”
”Pax and the Missing Head”, by David Barker
I’m delighted to join the blog tour of “Pax and the Missing Head” by David Barker. Many thanks to TheWriteReads, the publishers Tiny Tree, and of course the author for organising the tour and gifting me a copy of the book.
The story:
Born in 2045, Pax is 12 years old, loves mending things, and when we meet him is halfway up a verti-farm, tending crops grown in a high-rise building in the heart of New London. The city is surrounded by The Wall, under the leadership of Lord Mayor Silas Letherington. The Great Divide has split the country into the Guild of Cities and the Countryside Alliance. As civil war rages, the children of New London serve in the workhouses, apart from those lucky enough to attend Scholastic Parliament, training to be leaders.
When Pax passes the entrance exam to attend, he thinks his luck is finally changing, especially as he finds himself with real friends for the first time. But the Lord Mayor has some dangerous plans that will change the world Pax knows — will he be able to find out the truth, and at the same time avoid being expelled?
My thoughts:
“Pax and the Missing Head” by David Barker is a great middle-grade adventure, set in the futuristic world of New London. Civil war, driven by the ever-increasing costs of an aging population, has divided the nation between old and young, with the young workers of the walled cities versus the old and the rich of the Countryside Alliance. But as in every good dystopian story, all is not as it seems, and Lord Mayor Silas Letherington seems less keen on defence and more in favour of attack…
Pax is a young “seedling” — a boy born via artificial means — whose home is the workhouse. Scholastic Parliament, where future leaders are trained, seems a distant dream. But when Pax is pushed too far by a vindictive workhouse boss, he takes advantage of every New London child’s right to sit the entrance exam. And Pax is a determined and resourceful character, using his skills with electronics to make sure an “accidental” power cut doesn’t derail his exam.
Finding himself as a first year in the Party of Judges, his life moves to the Palace of Westminster, home of the school.
“Sir, why did you choose Westminster Palace as the site of the school?”
“It seemed a shame to waste the building after we’d got rid of all those squabbling politicians.”
There he begins to make friends, but also enemies in the bully Zachariah, a member of the Party of Loyals. Each of the four school parties competes throughout the school year to earn points in the Parliamentary Poll, with the losing party suffering expulsions by random draft.
The missing Head of the title refers to Headmistress Miss Adams, someone Pax is pretty sure knows more about the Mayor’s plans. So when she goes missing after an accident, Pax is determined to find out the truth, while at the same time trying to ensure his party doesn’t come last in the Poll.
I found this to be a real page-turner of a read, and Pax is a resourceful and likeable main character. He is skilled in robotics but his life in the workhouse has left him unsure of making friends, and it was great to see his friendship group, and his confidence, growing as the story progresses. Overall, this is an exciting, well-written adventure and a great introduction to dystopian fiction for middle-grade readers. I hope we get to read more about Pax and his friends in future stories!
Pages: 213
Published: 12th October 2023
Rating: 🐈🐈🐈🐈/5
About the author
David Barker attended the Faber Academy in 2014 and from that had three climate-fiction thrillers published (The Gold Trilogy, Bloodhound Books). He joined the Society of Children’s Book Writers in 2018 as he shifted his focus to a younger audience. His middle-grade debut, “Pax and the Missing Head” publishes with Tiny Tree in late 2023. David lives in Berkshire with his wife and daughter. He has a passion for stories, sport and boardgames.
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