What would it really be like to live on the Moon? This gripping middle grade sci-fi adventure takes readers into a future where humans have settled on the lunar surface, and where survival is far from a guarantee.
Twelve-year-old Max lives in the Pitadel, a settlement on the Moon, where he is cared for by his aunt and uncle. But Max is far from happy. His life takes a terrifying turn when his uncle takes him to the airlock and, without warning, shoves him out into the lunar wilderness.
Suddenly alone and exposed to numerous dangers, Max has to fight to survive. As he faces one challenge after another, his story becomes one of new friendships, questions about who he can trust and a quest to discover the truth about his own identity.
Moonlight Robbery is a tense, imaginative and fast-paced read for anyone aged 8+ who enjoys space, adventure and stories of survival.
Guest Post by David Barker
MOONLIGHT ROBBERY
I’ve always been fascinated by the Moon, despite not being quite old enough to remember the Apollo missions. Even now on a clear night, a full moon will tempt me to get up at 3am just to stare at that bright silver mottled coin in the sky and wonder what it would be like to visit. NASA’s current Artemis missions to return to the surface and build a base there is really exciting and one of the reasons I wanted to write a story to inspire young readers to look up into space.
I came up with the idea of a city half-buried near the lunar South Pole and called it the Pitadel. In it, I imagined an orphan with a passion for computers, a love of rules and some terrible guardians. And since I also love adventures and heist movies, I knew this law-abiding lad would be dragged into some nefarious activity. You could say there are elements of Ocean’s 11 in this story, but it most closely resembles Oliver Twist in terms of cast list.
Sci-fi stories that influenced me growing up include The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy (Douglas Adams), A Fall of Moondust (Arthur C Clarke), Dune (Frank Herbert), the graphic novels of Alan Moore and as an adult I devoured all of the culture novels by Iain M Banks. In recent children’s fiction, I have loved Philip Reeve’s Mortal Engines and Railhead series as well as books by Kirsty Applebaum, Christopher Edge and Alistair Chisholme.
I hope you have a chance to read Moonlight Robbery, to meet Max and Art, to experience a jetpack race, to see the dazzling crystal mirrors of the Collector atop the Pitadel’s vertiginous atrium. I can’t wait to show you this and much more…
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