David Almond's first novel for children, SKELLIG, won the Whitbread Children's Book of the Year and the Carnegie Medal, and his second, KIT'S WILDERNESS, won the Smarties Award Silver Medal, was Highly Commended for the Carnegie Medal, and shortlisted for the Guardian Award. Following the further success of HEAVEN EYES and SECRET HEART, David is widely regarded as one of the most exciting and innovative children's authors writing today, and his books are bestsellers all over the world. David lives with his family in Northumbria.

"There be 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 its autumn and the winds of change are blowing hard.Bobbys dad is mysteriously ill.His new school is a cold and cruel place.And worse:nuclear bombs are being tested.Is World War III about to start?

But Bobby has a wonder-working friend called Ailsa Spink.And hes found the fire-eater,a devil called McNulty.What can they do together on Bobbys beach?Is it possible to work miracles?Will they be able to transform the world?