The Fire-Eaters

The novel is set in 1962, before and during the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Bobby Burns, who lives in the quiet coal-mining village of Keely Bay in Northumberland, has had a wonderful summer. But in autumn his father falls mysteriously ill, and he loathes his new school which is pervaded by bullying and . Perhaps worst of all, Bobby is worried there will be a nuclear war.

Bobby's wonder-working friend Ailsa Spink and McNulty the crazy fire-eater open Bobby's eyes to the possibility of miracles.

• Robert 'Bobby' Burns
• Mum
• Dad
• Joseph Connor
• Ailsa Spink
• McNulty, a fire-eater
• Daniel Gower, a school friend of Bobby's
• Mr Todd
• Miss Bute

Kirkus Reviews wrote "Like the choicest of Almond, this is moody and layered." and "Breathtakingly and memorably up to Almond’s best."[1] while Publishers Weekly concluded that "Sensitive readers will marvel at Almond's ability to show, not tell, with his highly introspective—at times enigmatic—writing style."[2]

The Fire-Eaters won the Nestlé Smarties Book Prize Gold Award and the Whitbread Children's Book of the Year Award,[3][4] as well as being shortlisted for both the Guardian Award and the Carnegie Medal.[5][6]