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 t...
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Dec 09, 2010
Lisa
rated it: 
Themes: pain, change, war, illness, standing up for beliefs
Bobby Burns lives in Keely Bay, Northeastern England, during the Cold War. He has just finished primary school and is just about to begin attending a new school, when he meets McNulty, a mad street performer who performs acts of extreme pain for entertainment. As he befriends McNulty and understands more of what a life of that kind of pain could be like, Bobby begins a new school where the teachers beat the students when they d More...
Bobby Burns lives in Keely Bay, Northeastern England, during the Cold War. He has just finished primary school and is just about to begin attending a new school, when he meets McNulty, a mad street performer who performs acts of extreme pain for entertainment. As he befriends McNulty and understands more of what a life of that kind of pain could be like, Bobby begins a new school where the teachers beat the students when they d More...
Nov 28, 2010
Michele
rated it: 
Interest level: 5th +
Reading level: easy, short chapters
Genre: realistic fiction, historical fiction, adventure, friendship, bullying, school, sixties
Read alikes: Skellig
If you read and enjoyed "Skellig" (see review in this Blog), also by David Almond, you will enjoy this strange story which takes place in England in the early 60's during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Even in the seemingly insignificant seaside town where Bobby Burns lives, the mood seems grim bec More...
Reading level: easy, short chapters
Genre: realistic fiction, historical fiction, adventure, friendship, bullying, school, sixties
Read alikes: Skellig
If you read and enjoyed "Skellig" (see review in this Blog), also by David Almond, you will enjoy this strange story which takes place in England in the early 60's during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Even in the seemingly insignificant seaside town where Bobby Burns lives, the mood seems grim bec More...
Sep 04, 2009
Ruhama
rated it:
Bobby is growing up during the years of nuclear fear and worries about America and Russia starting another war. The book opens a few weeks before school starts, and Bobby has managed to get into an exclusive prep school, and he wonders how he will fit in—Bobby lives in a blue collar section of England—Keely Bay, a coal mining town. Bobby also has to deal with his father having a bit of a medical scare, a contortionist who seems to defy the laws of nature, a girl he’s known all his life becoming
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Oct 19, 2011
Amy
rated it:
Reading this book made me remember what I liked so much about the first David Almond book I read, "Skellig." His stories are full of rich characters and so much wisdom you feel like your head might explode after reading it. This book follows young Robert Burns, an English boy starting a new school in 1962 at the height of the Cuban Missile Crisis. In a world that's already been scarred by a terrible war and remains teetering on the brink of destruction, he tries to grow up and attai
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Dec 16, 2009
Susan
rated it:
An important period of recent history is brought to life through the eyes of a boy in Northeast England.
The threat of nuclear war, brought about by the infamous Cuban Missile Crisis. A memsmerising performance by a fire-eater, playing to the crowds of spellbound, slightly fearful people.
The threat of nuclear war, brought about by the infamous Cuban Missile Crisis. A memsmerising performance by a fire-eater, playing to the crowds of spellbound, slightly fearful people.
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Nov 08, 2011
Richard
rated it:
An even deeper, richer pleasure on re-reading than the first time.
Maybe I'm biased, because I too grew up in England in the 1960s, under the constant shadow of nuclear war. But this small, dark diamond of a book, about a boy growing up on the North Sea coast during the Cuba Missile Crisis, is an extraordinary accomplishment, and gets my vote for one of the best middle grade novels ever written. Oh, forget middle grade: this is a book for adults to read, just because it is simple yet in More...
Maybe I'm biased, because I too grew up in England in the 1960s, under the constant shadow of nuclear war. But this small, dark diamond of a book, about a boy growing up on the North Sea coast during the Cuba Missile Crisis, is an extraordinary accomplishment, and gets my vote for one of the best middle grade novels ever written. Oh, forget middle grade: this is a book for adults to read, just because it is simple yet in More...
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Sep 01, 2009
Linda
rated it:
This one is set in a sleepy, off the beaten path, coal town near New Castle, England. As usual, Almond writes of coming of age experiences with a cast of characters both soft and hard, gritty and kind.
As the United States and The Soviet Union prepare for potential nuclear disaster during the Cuban missile crisis, Bobby Burns witnesses McNulty, a fire breathing illusionist, carnival-like man who, as the story progresses, symbolically represents destruction and the power of fire to cha More...
As the United States and The Soviet Union prepare for potential nuclear disaster during the Cuban missile crisis, Bobby Burns witnesses McNulty, a fire breathing illusionist, carnival-like man who, as the story progresses, symbolically represents destruction and the power of fire to cha More...
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Jan 28, 2009
Joseph
rated it:
Fascinating book, with all the characteristics of a David Almond book. What I liked most about this book is its existential exploration of a small English coastal town in the time leading up to the Cuban missile crisis. The main character is, in true David Almond fashion, somewhat of a mediator between several different social strata. In the end, he's successful in bringing them all together, which I think is the best part of Almond's books. The question (again, in true Almond fashion) is, was h
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Jul 12, 2011
Stacey
rated it:
What a great read! It takes a bit of time to figure out where the story is headed, but the last third is wonderfully spiritual. In the fall of 1962, Bobby Burns grapples with the realities of love, hate, cruelty, death, loss..all the emotions of life. The story has a very quiet drama about it. In fact, I spent the last fourth of it with a lump in my throat, not sure what the outcome would be for each character, but knowing they were changed. I loved that it made me reflect on some of the quest
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Jan 31, 2009
Heidi
rated it: 
I'm not sure what to think of this one. I was back and forth of being completely into it, and then completely not. The accent was fun to listen to, and I was glad I already knew what a lot of those Scottish terms were. (I think I want to start going around using the word "bairn"--the narrator sounded so fun when he said it.) I know it was a small, coastal mining town, but I still didn't like all the British/Scottish swearing. Particularly not in what is considered a children's book. I
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Oct 04, 2011
Jim
rated it:
this book takes place in england during the cuban missle crisis. my Mom has told me a bit about that time, holding her eighteen month old baby (me) and praying the world world wasn't going to end. i grew up w/duck and cover drills. this book is more haunting than watchmen because of its accuracy.
the one knock against it is that the author writes in british, not american (english we call it it over here) even w/that it is still an amazing read well worth the occasional confusion because More...
the one knock against it is that the author writes in british, not american (english we call it it over here) even w/that it is still an amazing read well worth the occasional confusion because More...
Sep 27, 2011
Angela
rated it:
I read this over the weekend and thoroughly enjoyed it. Reminiscent of the children's books and stories I read as a child myself, the writing style is simplistic but deeply engrossing.
Told from the point-of-view of an 11 year old boy, Bobby experiences friendship, heartache, love, and, most importantly, the importance of living life and not just scraping by. The characters are all written openly honest and it's this simplicity which makes the book so heartfelt and engaging.
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Told from the point-of-view of an 11 year old boy, Bobby experiences friendship, heartache, love, and, most importantly, the importance of living life and not just scraping by. The characters are all written openly honest and it's this simplicity which makes the book so heartfelt and engaging.
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Jul 20, 2008
A “small, wild-eyed, bare-chested man” covered with scars and faded tattoos, McNulty ekes out a living by performing grotesque stunts for spare change. He escapes from tightly wrapped chains, he shoves a skewer through his cheeks, he breathes fire. McNulty’s grasp on reality fades in and out, but his barely controlled fear and agitation perfectly mirror the mounting tension among residents of a small town on the English coast. Like the rest of the world, they are waiting to see what will come of
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May 29, 2008
Bonnie
rated it:
In the last days of summer, 1962, Bobby Burns first saw McNulty, the Fire-Eater. He could wriggle free of binding chains, or stick a skewer through one cheek and out the other, so it stretched the span of his mouth. Or McNulty could breath fire, so that you couldn’t tell where the man ended and the fire began. McNulty’s past is dark and full of violence, but Bobby cannot stop thinking about him. As he begins his first days at a new school, as he worries about his father’s hacking cough, as h
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Apr 20, 2008
Hank
rated it:
I looked at this book for a damn long time on the shelf before I read it. I think the reason is because I thought Fire Eating was going to be a cheesy analogy for, I don't know, taking shit from people. But it wasn't; the analogy was both deeper and more subtle. There were some very grown up characters and circumstances that were scary which made the book scary. It's set in a coastal coal town in northern England, an out of the way place for sure. This means that the characters all know eac
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Oct 04, 2010
Bonnie
rated it:
In the last days of summer, 1962, Bobby Burns first saw McNulty, the Fire-Eater. He could wriggle free of binding chains, or stick a skewer through one cheek and out the other, so it stretched the span of his mouth. Or McNulty could breath fire, so that you couldn’t tell where the man ended and the fire began. McNulty’s past is dark and full of violence, but Bobby cannot stop thinking about him. As he begins his first days at a new school, as he worries about his father’s hacking cough, as h
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Aug 07, 2011
Neill
rated it:
Set in England during the 1962 Cuban missile crisis the book deals with Bobby’s struggles with his father’s illness, acceptance from his old friends as he enters a new school representing itself as higher class with the required compliance of its students, the view of war of his parent’s generation, and the new reality of impending nuclear war. A disturbed carny – a fire eater who his father knew in his war – plays a pivotal role in the plot.
Jul 22, 2011
Ricky
rated it:
I forgot how easy David Almond’s writing style is, I haven't read one of his books for a while. This story flows from the beginning and captures the characters well. There is always interesting characters in his books and a moral which interweaves with spiritual truths. I love his writing and enjoyed this story very much. His writing is different and interesting and he thinks outside the box - which gives his novels an added dimension.
Aug 15, 2011
Connie
rated it:
I liked this story for the special relationship of mother and father with each other and with their son, for the care they have for a hurting victim of war participation, for its clear, no-apologies expressions of the fear and destruction of war, for the courage of Bobby and his new friend as they physically suffer in order to expose abuse in a classroom. A Whitbread Award winner.
Jun 24, 2010
Erin
rated it:
Better on the second read than on the first. David Almond's prose is beautiful as always, and I liked his main character, a boy with his feet in two different worlds. There were, perhaps, too many plot threads--an ill father, a mysterious fire eater, a childhood friendship changing, bullies of the worst kind at the character's new school, coming of age, a new friend with his own perspective on the character's world, the threat of nuclear warfare--for Almond to juggle, and some of them weren't as
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May 26, 2010
Emily
rated it:
i listened to this book on an audio cd and i'm really glad i did. i think i got more from the story from doing that. beautiful characters infused with a great story about the possibilities of war make the book stand out as a great read (or a great listen in my case).
Jan 31, 2010
Eric
rated it:
This book is a fascinating and poetic treatment of small lives in England during the Cuban missile crisis. It's the best book I've read this year, and I am sure it will be one of the best of the year. I highly recommend it.
Dec 06, 2008
David
rated it:
A highly readable and moving novel, inhabited by the usual themes and types of character Almond employs. As usual, the author deftly blends metaphor and narrative, and weaves in variations on the meaning of the title.
Sep 03, 2008
Wynnie
rated it:
Everyone has their own battles to fight.
The story is set in the UK in 1962. While Robert (Bobby Burns) and his teenage friends are not too concerned with the tension increasing at the onset of the Cuban Missle Crisis, they experience their own conflicts at their their new Secondary School.
Similarly, while teenage students of today might not connect with the political and historical background of the story, they will still be able to engage with the challenge that Bobby fa More...
The story is set in the UK in 1962. While Robert (Bobby Burns) and his teenage friends are not too concerned with the tension increasing at the onset of the Cuban Missle Crisis, they experience their own conflicts at their their new Secondary School.
Similarly, while teenage students of today might not connect with the political and historical background of the story, they will still be able to engage with the challenge that Bobby fa More...
Jul 01, 2011
Hayley
rated it:
Being the daughter of a Geordie man, I love the way that Almond captures the language of the North East in his writing. When reading this, it was like listening to my dad tell me a tale.
Marvellous.
Marvellous.
Jan 26, 2012
Hugh
rated it:
Read for a Young Adult Novels class. Despite it being written for middle-schoolers, I enjoyed the take on the Cuban Missle Crisis from a non-American point of view. That's sadly not something you come across everyday.
Dec 17, 2009
bjneary
rated it:
Historical Fiction during the time of the US-Soviet Union nuclear testing era. Bobby Burns is a youngster who has a best friend that makes the world seem right, a dad who might have cancer and a fire-eater illusionist who allows him to dream. Living in a small town of poor, hardworking families Bobby is a dreamer but upon entering a new school, reality comes crashing in and Bobby is forced to look at the world as it really is. I really liked it but would have to do a really good job of book tal
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Mar 16, 2010
Claire
rated it:
This is a fabulous book. Set in Newcastle, we see the Cuban Missile Crisis though British eyes. What has the US gotten the world into?!?!?
Oct 14, 2009
Alesha
rated it:
i thought this was an absoloutly brillian book to read and i will keep it on my book shelf for ever
Nov 12, 2010
Alexandra
rated it:
All of David Almond's books are worth a read - they're some of the best books out there.
