Prison Boy

by Sharon E. McKay

Overview

A heart-wrenching tale of selfless love and the powerful desire to survive. When little Kai is brought to the orphanage run by Bell, a fearsome Englishwoman whose dedication to her charges is unflinching, an older child, Pax, immediately takes him under his wing. Kai is a brilliant child, who could go on to achieve great things. Living amidst political strife and constant uncertainty, the children are cared for—until Bell dies and they are left on their own. In a desperate attempt to make enough money to keep Kai in school, Pax starts working for a shady character known as Mister. Mister sends Pax on a “special” mission—carry a heavy box to a pre-arranged location, and wait. At the very last minute, Pax realizes that the box contains a bomb, which explodes, killing and maiming hundreds of people. Pax and Kai escape the explosion, only to be arrested and charged with terrorism. Once imprisoned, Pax faces brutal guards who stop at nothing to make him talk. This haunting novel brings home the tragic situation in which children in over 40 countries are tortured with impunity. But it also speaks to the strength of love in the most dire situations.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781554517305
Publisher:	Annick Press, Limited
Publication date:	03/02/2015
Pages:	232
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 7.90(h) x 0.60(d)
Lexile:	HL530L (what's this?)
Age Range:	13 - 17 Years

About the Author

Sharon E. McKay is an award-winning author whose books have dealt with such global issues as child soldiers, child victims of war, and the Holocaust. She lives on Prince Edward Island.

Editorial Reviews

04/01/2015
; pap. $12.95.Gr 7 Up—McKay continues writing in the vein of war and unrest with her latest. Pax, a teenage orphan boy, has been raised in the slums of an unidentified country. He is the eldest in the orphanage and has taken the youngest, Kai, under his wing. After their caregiver passes away, Kai and Pax are forced to live on the streets. The boys survive by taking odd jobs. McKay does an extraordinary job displaying how little the protagonists know about the modern world. When introduced to air conditioning in a car, they believe they are experiencing some sort of miracle. The story picks up speed when one of Pax's jobs leads him to deliver a package that he realizes too late is a bomb, and it detonates, killing many people. The boys get away from the blast in time only to be arrested for terrorism. While in prison, Pax endures great torture at the hands of the government. These scenes, though not graphic, are quite haunting. To avoid the pain, the young man slips into a dream world, which some readers may find distracting from the realistic tone of the rest of the story. The book starts off slow and confusing, making the setting seem muddled, but the further readers get, the clearer the narrative becomes. Pax and Kai are outstanding characters that are fully developed. VERDICT This is a strong choice for those seeing something meaty for middle schoolers but would also suit older readers. A great conversation starter.—Lora Siebert, Orland Park Public Library, IL

School Library Journal

2015-01-20
What chances have abandoned children to survive the hazards of life on the mean streets of an unnamed developing country riven by civil war?Here, slim and none. In a novel shot through with suffering both physical and psychological, small, hard-won victories alternate with vicious reversals of fortune. Teenage Pax's years in a slum's squalid group home seem almost idyllic after the death of the overwhelmed English woman who had raised him forces him to flee police and scavengers. With him he has only the home's cash box—soon stolen—and 6-year-old fellow orphan Kai. In desperation, Pax takes a job making mysterious deliveries for a man known only as "Mister." When one package turns out to be a terrorist's bomb, Pax is arrested, beaten, tortured over months and sentenced to death. The narrative sometimes takes on a rhetorical slant ("Those who torture are damaged forever. They are filled with poison"), and a 10-years-later epilogue starring Kai as the adopted son of a British couple and a gifted Oxford student reads like a tacked-on happy ending. Still, though readers may find Pax's delirious visions near the end more distracting than poignant, they are likely to be as moved by his fierce, selfless devotion to Kai as by the story's brutal and troubling events. Another gut-wrenching tale from McKay (War Brothers, 2014, etc.) focusing on children victimized by war and poverty. (Fiction. 12-14)

Kirkus Review