There he was, below the bridge, half-naked, eyes blazing. He had a pair of burning torches. He ran them back and forth across his skin. He sipped from a bottle, breathed across a torch, and fire and fumes leapt from his lips. The air was filled with the scent of paraffin. He breathed again, a great high spreading flag of fire. He glared. He roared like an animal.

That summer, life had seemed perfect for Bobby Burns. But now it’s autumn and the winds of change are blowing hard. Bobby’s dad is mysteriously ill. His new school is a cold and cruel place. And worse: nuclear war may be about to start. But Bobby has a wonder-working friend called Ailsa Spink. And he’s found the fire-eater, a devil called McNulty. What can they do together on Bobby’s beach? Is it possible to work miracles? Will they be able to transform the world?

A stunning novel from the author of the modern children’s classic Skellig – winner of the Carnegie Medal and the Whitbread Children’s Book Award. David Almond is also winner of the 2010 Hans Christian Andersen award.

"An uplifting, beautifully written story." - Independent on Sunday

"A beautifully written, warm-hearted book. Almond's poetic, though gritty, prose avoids the pitfalls of sentimentality." - The Observer

"Almond's books are always moving, uplifting tributes to the human spirit." - The Scotsman

"An affecting meditation on pain, cruelty, class, belonging and the redeeming power of love." - The Sunday Times

"A beautiful and brilliant novel. There really is nobody quite like Almond." - The Times

"This is beautifully written and polished to a lapidary gloss." - The Guardian

"A wonderful novel." - The Times

"An astonishing, beautiful tale. Almond at his best." - The Daily Telegraph

"A tale so marvellously told it seems a shame to label it as only for children." - The Daily Telegraph
"Stays with you long after the book is closed." - The Guardian

David Almond is the author of Skellig, My Name is Mina, Counting Stars, The Savage, Island, A Song for Ella Grey, The Colour of the Sun and many other novels, stories, picture books, opera librettos, songs and plays. His work is translated into 40 languages, and is widely adapted for stage and screen. His major awards include the Carnegie Medal, two Whitbread Awards, the Eleanor Farjeon Award, the Michael L Printz Award (USA), Le Prix Sorcières (France) and the Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize. In 2010 he won the Hans Christian Andersen Award, the world’s most prestigious prize for children’s authors. David speaks at festivals and conferences around the world. He is Professor of Creative Writing at Bath Spa University. He is widely regarded as one of the most exciting, inspirational and innovative children’s authors writing today. He has one amazing daughter. He lives in Bath and in Newcastle, the city in which he was born.