Product Description

‘David ran a hand through his mop of brown hair. Dragons. It was certainly different from his last set of lodgings, where all you got were spiders and the occasional mouse. “It’s perfect,” he said.’

When David arrives at Wayward Crescent he has no idea what lurks inside the Pennykettle house. Only when he’s given his own special dragon does he begin to unlock their mysterious secrets, and to discover the fire within...

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #6765 in Books
• Published on: 2001-09-27
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 288 pages

About the Author
Chris d'Lacey was born in Malta. However, he has lived the majority of his life in Leicester. After graduating from York University with a biology degree, he went to Leicester University where he has worked for the past twenty-two years as a research scientist. Chris never had plans to become a writer - his teenage wish was to become a famous songwriter! Chris has published books with Orchard Books, Transworld, Scholastic and Egmont. His first children`s book  Fly, Cherokee, Fly was highly commended for the 1999 Carnegie Medal. However, Chris claims his own favourite is The Fire Within which took him fifteen years to write and is a mixture of stories, one of which he was writing for his wife, Jay, as a surprise present. Chris lives with Jay in Leicester. He is a keen Leicester City fan and has ambitions to visit the Arctic, fly in a space shuttle, own a racehorse, have a record on Top of the Pops and beat his five-year-old nephew on the Playstation!

Customer Reviews

Snigger
The Fire Within (or 'Snigger' as it will always be known to me) is fantastic, its Chris D'Lacey at his best...
To me The Fire Within is a book about friendship and discovery, how friends (be them humans or animals) enhance our lives and how we don't always know whats inside us until we look.

The dragons are excellent, and I finished the book wishing I could have one. hrrrrr. I found it a definite 'couldn't put it down' book, it made me laugh and it made me cry (on the tube in front of everyone!). Its not just for children either, I'm 28 and now I've given it to my mum to read - I think people of all ages will really enjoy it.

And Chris, I'll remember to take nuts for Snigger the next time I go to the library gardens.

Good description. Bad story.
Okay, this is well written, the characters are decently developed and the description is good, but what is with the story? I am a boy and hoped there would be lots of dragons, but squirrels? I mean it's all about squirrels, not dragons. The dragons are only clay in the start and they are only properly introduced right at the end! And, the worst bit in the book, is the middle part when the book drones on about squirrels. Let me give you brief description of the story:

A twenty year aged man named David Rayne is a lodger who has rented a room in the house belonging to the Pennyketle's. As he soon dicovers, the house is full of clay dragons that the daugther Lucy has a passion for. And, of course, lets not forget the garden overrun with squirrels. Here we go: Lucy loves the squirrels, and the next-door neighbour hates them. The guy (next-door neighbour) cuts down his old oak tree and so the squirrels run off. But there is one injured squirrel that needs help. So the Pennykettles take it into thier home. They here about a vet, and take it there.
That's as far as I'm going to take you, I don't want to spoil the ending.

The good points about the book: The beggining is good, and the character introductions and developments are good. +2 stars for these factors And the dialogue is good. Well, hopefully I have expressed what is bad about the book: Not good story and the squirrels, -3 stars.

I would reccomend this book to 7-10 years, and girls would prefer it to boys (the story is about squirrels, and the characters are all ladies but one.)

Hrrrr!
This book is fabulous! One of the best childrens books that I've read in a long time, and not just for children either (I'm 30!).

The story line moves at the perfect pace and made me laugh, as well as cry (Yes, I cried on the tube as well!). It teaches you about the friends that you have in your life and about what you have the potential to be, all you have to do is look!

All I can say Chris is what's going to happen next! And please don't take another 15 years!!!