# The Fire Eaters

**Author:** David Almond
**Grade range:** Grades 4–9
**First published:** 2014
**Page count:** 158
**Genre:** Children's
**ISBN-13:** `9781444921083`
**ISBN-10:** `1444921088`
**Canonical URL:** https://readinglist.school/book/the-fire-eaters
**License:** [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) — please credit ReadingList.school when citing.

## About this book

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 th

## Where this book is assigned

### Boston Globe–Horn Book Award

- **recommended** · 4th grade — [source: Boston Globe–Horn Book Award winners, via Wikipedia — 2004 Winner](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston_Globe%E2%80%93Horn_Book_Award)
- **recommended** · 5th grade — [source: Boston Globe–Horn Book Award winners, via Wikipedia — 2004 Winner](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston_Globe%E2%80%93Horn_Book_Award)
- **recommended** · 6th grade — [source: Boston Globe–Horn Book Award winners, via Wikipedia — 2004 Winner](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston_Globe%E2%80%93Horn_Book_Award)
- **recommended** · 7th grade — [source: Boston Globe–Horn Book Award winners, via Wikipedia — 2004 Winner](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston_Globe%E2%80%93Horn_Book_Award)
- **recommended** · 8th grade — [source: Boston Globe–Horn Book Award winners, via Wikipedia — 2004 Winner](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston_Globe%E2%80%93Horn_Book_Award)
- **recommended** · 9th grade — [source: Boston Globe–Horn Book Award winners, via Wikipedia — 2004 Winner](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston_Globe%E2%80%93Horn_Book_Award)

---

_Generated from primary-source citations indexed on ReadingList.school. For the full HTML view with reading-list cross-references, see https://readinglist.school/book/the-fire-eaters._