{"product_id":"the-fireeaters-isbn-9780375857515","title":"The Fire-Eaters","description":"Bobby Burns knows he’s a lucky lad. Growing up in sleepy Keely Bay, Bobby is exposed to all manner of wondrous things: stars reflecting off the icy sea, a friend that can heal injured fawns with her dreams, a man who can eat fire. But darkness seems to be approaching Bobby’s life from all sides. Bobby’s new school is a cold, cruel place. His father is suffering from a mysterious illness that threatens to tear his family apart. And the USA and USSR are testing nuclear missiles and creeping closer and closer to a world-engulfing war.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTogether with his wonder-working friend, Ailsa Spink, and the fire-eating illusionist McNulty, Bobby will learn to believe in miracles that will save the people and place he loves.David Almond grew up in a large family in northeastern England and says, “The place and the people have given me many of my stories.” He worked as a postman, a brush salesman, an editor, and a teacher, but began to write seriously after he finished college. His first novel for children, \u003ci\u003eSkellig\u003c\/i\u003e, was a Michael L. Printz Honor Book and an ALA Notable Book and appeared on many best book of the year lists. His second novel, \u003ci\u003eKit’s Wilderness\u003c\/i\u003e, won the Michael L. Printz Award for excellence in literature for young adults. David Almond lives in Newcastle, England, with his partner and their daughter.ONE\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIt all starts on the day I met McNulty. I was with my mam. We left Dad at home beside the sea. We took the bus to Newcastle. We got out below the statue of the angel, then headed down toward the market by the river. She was all in red. She kept singing \"The Keel Row\" and swinging my arm to the rhythm of the song. A crowd had gathered beyond the market stalls but we couldn't see what held so many people there. She led me closer. She stood on tiptoes. There were bodies all around me, blocking out the light. Seagulls were squealing. It had been raining. There were puddles in the joints between the cobblestones. I kicked water across my shiny new black shoes. The splashes turned to dark stains on my jeans. The water splashed on her ankles as well but she didn't seem to feel it. I tugged her hand and wanted to move away, but she didn't seem to feel it.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHis voice was muffled by the bodies, and at first it seemed so distant. \"Pay!\" he yelled. \"You'll not see nowt till you pay!\" I tugged her hand again. \"Are you not listening?\" he yelled. I raised my eyes and tried to see. And she put her hands beneath my arms and lifted me and I teetered on my toes and there he was, at the center of us all. I looked into his eyes. He looked back into mine. And it was as if my heart stopped beating and the world stopped turning. That was when it started. That moment, that Sunday, late summer, 1962.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHe was a small, wild-eyed, bare-chested man. His skin was covered in scars and bruises. There were rough and faded tattoos of beasts and women and dragons. He had a little canvas sack on a long stick. He kept shoving it at the crowd.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Pay!\" he yelled and snarled. \"You'll not get nowt till you pay.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSome of the crowd turned away and pushed past us as we moved forward. They shook their heads and rolled their eyes. He was pathetic, they said. He was a fake. One of them leaned close to Mam. \"Take the lad away,\" he said. \"Some of the tricks is just disgusting. Not for bairns to see. It shouldn't be allowed.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMcNulty's hair was black. He had pointed gold teeth at the front of his mouth and he wore tiny golden earrings. There were deep creases in his cheeks. The bridge was high behind him. The sun shone through its arch. Steam and scents from the hot dog stalls and popcorn makers drifted across us. Mam held me against her.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Reach into my pocket,\" she said. \"Find him a coin.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI reached down and took out some silver. When I looked up again his little sack was right before my eyes.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Into the sack with it, bonny lad,\" he said.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI dropped the coin in. He held my eye with his. He grinned.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Good lad,\" he snarled.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHe took the sack away.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Pay,\" he yelled, shoving the sack at other faces. \"Get your money out and pay!\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eShe pushed my shoulders, helping me forward. I squirmed through, right to the front of the crowd.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Bonny lad!\" he muttered when he saw me there. He looked through the crowd. \"Bonny lady.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe stick and the sack were on the ground. He flexed his muscles. A cart wheel lay on the cobbles beside him. He stood it on end, in front of him. It had heavy wooden spokes, a thick steel rim. It was as high as his chest.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Could McNulty lift this?\" he hissed.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHe took it in his hands, spread his legs, bent his knees and lifted it to his thighs and let it rest there.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Could he?\" he said through gritted teeth. \"Could he?\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThere were tears of strain in his eyes.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHe groaned, lifted again, a sudden jerk that took the cart wheel high. We gasped. We backed away. He leaned his head back and rested the wheel on his brow so that it stood above him, with the sun and the bridge caught in its ring. He shuffled on the cobbles, balancing himself with his elbows wide and his hands gripping the rim of steel. He grunted and hissed. Then he lifted the cart wheel free and let it fall with a crash and the whole earth seemed to shake.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHe glared at us. He blinked, wiped his tears away.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"See? See what a man can do?\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI reached behind me but Mam's hand wasn't there. I looked back through the crowd and saw her and she smiled and held up her hand, telling me to stay there.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"What next?\" said McNulty. \"The fire or the chains or the...\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHe fell silent as his eye met mine again. He leaned close.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Help me, bonny,\" he whispered.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHe reached for my hand. I turned to Mam. She waved again and smiled, as if to tell me everything was fine, she was still there, there was nothing to fear. He cupped my shoulder and drew me to him. Dozens of eyes watched.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"This is my assistant,\" he said. \"His name is...\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI couldn't speak. He leaned close. He cupped his hand across his mouth, whispered into my ear.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"His name is...\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"R-Robert,\" I stammered.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"R-Robert!\" he announced.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHe crouched in front of me. His skin glistened. I caught the smoky sweaty scent of him. I caught the sour smell of the river flowing darkly nearby. I looked into the black center of his eyes.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"There is a box here, bonny,\" he told me.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHe slid a casket to my feet.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Open it,\" he said.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI did nothing.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Open it, Bobby,\" he whispered.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWith trembling fingers, I opened it. Inside were needles and pins and fishhooks and skewers and knives and scissors, some of them all rusted, some of them all bright.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Take out something awful,\" he said. \"Take out the thing that you think should make the most pain.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI stared into his eyes, so deep and dark.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Do it, Bobby,\" he said.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI took out a silver skewer, as long as my forearm. It had a Saracen's head as a handle. The point was needle-sharp.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHe shuddered.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Well chosen, Bobby.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHe stood up. He held the skewer between his index fingers for the crowd to see.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Who would dare?\" he said. \"Bobby!\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI looked up at him.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Bobby, pass the sack to them. Tell them to put their coins in it. Tell them they'll not see nowt until they pay.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI just wanted to escape, but the bodies were packed before me. The faces were all smiles. Mam had her hand across her mouth. She widened her eyes, she raised her shoulders, she tried to go on smiling.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Do it, Bobby,\" he said. \"Do the buggers think a man like me can live on fresh air? Pay! Tell them! Get your money out and pay!\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI weakly pushed the sack into the crowd. McNulty barked his demands. Mam leaned far toward me, dropped three coins in. I wanted to reach out to her, grab her hand, get her to pull me away. Then McNulty snapped:\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Enough, Bobby. They're tightfisted crooks and they won't give us what we need. But to hell with them. Let's give them something to infect their waking and fire their dreams.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI turned to him. He touched my cheek. He drew me to his side. He spoke to me as if no one else existed, as if there were just the two of us there beside the river on that brightening late-summer day.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Help me, son,\" he said.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHe stood stock-still. He lowered his head, closed his eyes. He breathed deeply. He muttered incomprehensible words. He raised his head, opened his eyes. He held the point of the skewer against his cheek. He looked blankly at the crowd.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Bobby,\" he said. \"Touch me if I cry out. Catch me if I fall.\"","brand":"Laurel Leaf","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46302155079909,"sku":"NP9780375857515","price":7.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780375857515.jpg?v=1767739339","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/products\/the-fireeaters-isbn-9780375857515","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}