The Fire-Eaters

Rating:
Summary: Strong and Beautiful
Review: Another book by David Almond that carries you along in the story as miracles slowly unfold beneath the surface. The characters are drawn with tenderness and humor and the community they create and inhabit becomes almost a character in itself. I remember the Cuban missile crisis--I was about the same age as Bobby Burns, the main character in this story, and the story evoked the memory of those days so hauntingly.

I keep marveling at the title, that plural that makes you think "together we can save the world."




Rating:
Summary: A powerful read
Review: Bobby Burns has lived his entire life in the small coastal town of Keely Bay, but in the autumn of 1962 he finds that his life is changing. He is going to a new preparatory school, leaving his old friends and the village school behind. He suspects his father may be sick. The Cuban Missile Crisis is raging in America, threatening the entire world with nuclear annihilation.

He is also meeting new people. There is McNulty, a fire-eater and escapologist whose mind was unhinged in WWII. There is Daniel, the new kid in town, who looks down on Keely Bay's working class inhabitants. Then there are the cruel teachers at Bobby's new school, who resort to beatings when they feel children don't know their place.

Together, Bobby and Daniel mount a protest against the barbaric practice of strapping. The potential price of expulsion seems insignificant compared to the protests against nuclear war they see on television. When Bobby asks his father about the rioting, he answers, "That's just people doing what they should do, making their voice heard, yelling against what they know is wrong."

David Almond's books often deal with themes of faith and redemption. THE FIRE-EATERS contains both of these elements, along with a reverence for even the most damaged lives. The night when nuclear war is averted, Bobby, his family, McNulty and the neighbors gather on the beach, eating, drinking and trying to spend time together with the people and places they love before the world ends, or changes forever.

THE FIRE-EATERS contains a powerful message of hope. The fear of nuclear war, which was at its height during the Cuban Missile Crisis, was for its generation what the fear of terrorism is for this generation. Not every disaster can be averted, as was seen during the tragic events of September 11th, but the FIRE-EATERS is a reminder that these moments of crisis can bring clarity to our lives and help us to treasure those things that are truly meaningful.

--- Reviewed by Sarah A. Wood

Rating:
Summary: Not Quite Skellig
Review: I fell in love with David Almond's books when I first picked up Skellig, which i feel is an absolutely incredible book. This book is not quite up to the same standard in my opinion, although I realize that it's not supposed to have the same feel to it. Having said that, it was still a very enjoyable read, dealing with a rural boy in the UK and his struggles to come to terms with the unsettling world around him as he is coming of age. I would definitely recommend this to any David Almond fan (or any fan of good children's literature, for that matter).

Rating:
Summary: Not Quite Skellig
Review: I fell in love with David Almond's books when I first picked up Skellig, which i feel is an absolutely incredible book. This book is not quite up to the same standard in my opinion, although I realize that it's not supposed to have the same feel to it. Having said that, it was still a very enjoyable read, dealing with a rural boy in the UK and his struggles to come to terms with the unsettling world around him as he is coming of age. I would definitely recommend this to any David Almond fan (or any fan of good children's literature, for that matter).

Rating:
Summary: Not Worth My Time
Review: This book had horribly scattered ideas and no plot. We read this in my book club and no one was very impressed. I forced myself to struggle through this and get it's sleepy pages over with. I thought the book would pick up at the very end but I had no such luck. I slept through it from beginning to end. Some charactors were well formed but most of them including the narrator were completely unbelievable with no distinct personality. I do not know how this book won an award. It was truly a disappointment.

Rating:
Summary: Awesome book
Review: When i first got this book out it didnt sound like a interesting book. I read the first page wondering what was happening. But as the story got deeper into the plot i couldnt put it down. I dont really read that much i enjoy watching television but this was such a sensational read i couldnt stop. Has a nice plot and is writin extremly well. Another great book by David almond