The Fire Within [Paperback]

Chris D'Lacey (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 2007 | Age Range: 8 and up | Lexile Measure: 630L (What's this?)

Best-selling author, Chris d'Lacey, brings us a magical story about mysterious hand crafted clay dragons who have unusual powers.

When David moves in with Liz and Lucy, he discovers a collection of hand crafted, clay dragons that comes to life and has magical powers. David's personalized dragon, Gadzooks, can forecast the future, and inspires him to write a story which reveals the truth behind an unsolved mystery close to home. The story has an unhappy ending, and when David realizes the consequences of it he is angry. Then David finds Gadzooks crying and near death, and he discovers that these special dragons die when they are not loved. Soon David is forced to save his friend and unlock the powers of the fire within.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 5-8–This British import has a satisfying domestic reality, spiced with some very unusual dragons. When college student David Rain begins rooming at the home of Liz Pennykettle and her 11-year-old daughter, Lucy, he becomes aware of a variety of unusual happenings connected to the clay dragons that Liz creates and sells. As David slowly learns about the family's past and abilities, he has to decide whether to accept Gadzooks, the special dragon Liz made for him. Lucy's attempts to save the neighborhood squirrels from a scheming neighbor are a second plot focus. A fictional story David writes for Lucy about these animals mirrors real developments in their lives, creating an unusual story-within-a-story. In spite of the dragon's eye staring out from the cover, readers may not find what they expect here–there are no magical battles or world-spanning quests to be found. Instead, d'Lacey has created a realistic relationship among David, Liz, and the appealingly strong-willed Lucy, and his dragon's small size is mirrored in the limited magic it performs. Information about the dragons' past and the promise of further stories from David leave ample room for the sequel. Fire Within is a smooth read and an original addition to dragon lore.–Beth L. Meister, Pleasant View Elementary School, Franklin, WI
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Review

SLJ 10/1/05
d'Lacey, Chris. The Fire Within. 340p. Scholastic/Orchard. 2005. Tr $12.95. ISBN 0-439-67343-0. LC 2004058327.
Gr 5-8–This British import has a satisfying domestic reality, spiced with some very unusual dragons. When college student David Rain begins rooming at the home of Liz Pennykettle and her 11-year-old daughter, Lucy, he becomes aware of a variety of unusual happenings connected to the clay dragons that Liz creates and sells. As David slowly learns about the family's past and abilities, he has to decide whether to accept Gadzooks, the special dragon Liz made for him. Lucy's attempts to save the neighborhood squirrels from a scheming neighbor are a second plot focus. A fictional story David writes for Lucy about these animals mirrors real developments in their lives, creating an unusual story-within-a-story. In spite of the dragon's eye staring out from the cover, readers may not find what they expect here–there are no magical battles or world-spanning quests to be found. Instead, d'Lacey has created a realistic relationship among David, Liz, and the appealingly strong-willed Lucy, and his dragon's small size is mirrored in the limited magic it performs. Information about the dragons' past and the promise of further stories from David leave ample room for the sequel. Fire Within is a smooth read and an original addition to dragon lore.–Beth L. Meister, Pleasant View Elementary School, Franklin, WI

--This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Age Range: 8 and up
  
• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Scholastic Paperbacks; Reprint edition (March 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0439672449
• ISBN-13: 978-0439672443
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (147 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #19,831 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #46 in Books > Children's Books > Fairy Tales, Folk Tales & Myths > Dragons

More About the Author

Chris d'Lacey writes books for children of all ages, but is best known for his series The Last Dragon Chronicles which have sold nearly four million copies worldwide.

He was born in Malta, but has absolutely no memory of the island and has never been back. Most of his life has been lived in Leicester, England. He now lives in Devon, England.

His early ambition was to be a songwriter, and he did not begin writing fiction until he was in his early thirties. He kicked off with a gentle 'Christmassy' story that grew, alarmingly, into a 250,000 word adult saga about polar bears. It is still to come out of his 'bottom drawer'. He progressed to writing short stories and had a smattering of efforts placed in a variety of well-regarded small press magazines. He had no real plans to try children's fiction until a friend suggested he enter a competition to write a story for nine-year-olds. He didn't win the competition, but sent the story to a publisher who picked it off a slush pile. He has now switched completely to children's fiction and has published over thirty titles, many of which have been widely translated. 'Fly, Cherokee, Fly' (his first children's novel) was highly commended for the Carnegie Medal.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

43 of 48 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Cute Book But Series Is For OLDER Readers November 16, 2009

By A. Kisamore

Format:Paperback

I have never written a review before, but this one I felt very strongly about. Bought this book to read with my 7 year old as he LOVES dragons. Story dragged a bit, not a lot of dragons but cute. However, the second book took the children's story to a whole other level. I stopped reading it to my child, but continued on my own as it was a creative and fresh story that I had come to enjoy. But by the third book, I was more then a little disappointed with how dark things were getting and by the middle of the fourth, I stopped reading the series all together. Don't mind a few fanciful ideas or bad guys, but I do mind senseless killing of multiple characters (no matter what form you bring them back as) and making bad guys truly skin-crawling, evil. My child was disappointed that we could not continue the story of the cute, magical dragons. I was disappointed that yet another story line had to delve to levels far darker then any child or pre-teen should be exposed to.

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book, no violence or bad language June 14, 2006

By Michelle Andersen

Format:Paperback

I pre-read this book for my 5- and 7-year old sons. They love dragons, but many of the dragon books and movies are a bit too violent in my opinion. I finished the book in two days because I couldn't put it down. I loved the squirrel plot and the mysterious clay dragons. I just bought the next two books in the series - Icefire and Firestar. I hope they are as good as the first.

34 of 39 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars This was GREAT! August 29, 2005

By Kathie (Katmom)

Format:Paperback

I read review books for our school library. Some are okay, some are horrible, and then sometimes I get to read something STUPENDOUS....That was "The Fire Within". I LOVED the dragons, the squirrel part was touching, looking into the mind of a 20 year old boy was revealing....and the best part? Well, there is already Book 2 and Book 3 will be out in a couple of weeks! Hurray! My husband reads to our 3 girls each night, we have enjoyed the Harry Potter series, the Rowan books, Gregor and his adventures in the Underlands....and NOW we'll start on Chris d'Lacey's DRAGONS!!!! Keep 'em coming Chris.....

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Joon's Book Review of the awesome book, "The Fire Within" January 24, 2005

A Kid's Review

Format:Paperback

This is my Book review of a book called "The Fire Within" by Chris D' Lacey

This book is a five star action packed, lovable, and enjoyable book.

This book is about a 20 year old college student named David.

He moves in a mysteriously weird house, with an owner named Elizabeth.

He moves in because college is too far away from his hometown and he need to stay somewhere until he passes college. He has to live with a cat named Bonnington, a 10 year old girl named Lucy, and a woman named Elizabeth.

He notices this family is getting weirder and weirder everyday, all they talk about is dragons and they have a room which he where Elizabeth makes her clay dragons that doesn't have a kiln which David is forbidden to go inside.

One day when David gets his own clay dragon, it inspires him to write a story; mysteriously, the events in the story become real, even the clay dragons may come to real life! When his dragon is sad and his dragon is in danger of dying, David must master the fire within, not only with his hands, but with his heart. This book is the best book I have ever read in my life!

This has great description and it is very imaginative. Chris D' Lacey has written the sequel to this book, it is called Icefire. He has also written Beverly Cleary books and some other great books. Overall all think this book is the best book he has ever written, but I am going to wait until I get Icefire to assure it is the best book he has ever written. I think this book is a fantasy related book because it has dragons and all kinds of wondrous things, and because this book is a fantasy book it's what makes The Fire Within an awesome book!...

So that is my book review about "The Fire Within, and if you love this book you should check out the sequel "Icefire.

Joon Hyong Cho Read more ›

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars The Fire Within Book Report March 14, 2007

A Kid's Review

Format:Paperback

This book has a main character named David, he is a 20 years old

college student and he live in a house with his mom and dad. This book is

a fantasy book so it take place in a fantasy world. David became a tenant

in a strange house filled with clay dragons and it was owned by Liz and

Lucy. David then receives a special dragon of his own named Gadzooks.

Gadzooks helps David write a book. He received this dragon from Sophie

and Lucy and Liz since they became best friend when they met in the clay

dragons house. They said that the clay dragon which is Gadzooks contains

a enourmous fire power within him but David need to know how to unleash

it so David could have magical fire When his dragon is sad and his dragon

is in danger of dying, David must master the fire within, not only with

his hands, but with his heart power. The next sequel of the book continue

another called Icefire.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars THIS BOOK IS WICKED AWESOME!!!! January 8, 2007

A Kid's Review

Format:Paperback

I loved this book.Well,it is full of sadness,happyness,and of course DRAGONS!!!!!This book is for all fans of Eragon,Eldest and Dragon Rider.I am working to finesh ICE FIRE the second book.(Sneaky hent-the third book is FIRE STAR and the fourth book is THE FIRE ETERNAIL).Mistique,Dragon Lady,age 9.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Quite off the Dragon Subject. December 18, 2005

A Kid's Review

Format:Paperback

This book is an absolute favroite time-waster of mine, right next to mega bloks dragons. Be patient during the boring parts,and it will soon be a fun book on your shelf. The boring lingers, but soon it slides. Higly recomendded for the people who wait.

David, a 20 year old, moves in with a secretive mom named Liz and a squirrel obsessed kid named Lucy. He soon discovers clay dragons made by Liz all over the house. Soon liz hands David a dragon chewing a pencil while holding a pad. The dragon named Gadzooks frequently poppes in his head writing ideas for David's book.

Meanwhile, Lucy is crazy trying to save Conker, a squirrel with one eye, from Mr.Bacon. With all the help the family does, conker still ****** **** from ****** *******. But there's another problem.....

David finds the dragons are real. He learns of a spark inside the dragon. Love and care keeps it lit. Otherwise, the dragon could die. David had gotten in a fight with Gadzooks, and the spark is fading. Will David be able to save him?

The Fire Within stays with the sqirrels for over half the book, so the dragons dont come in much. Still, I couldn't help making 3 clay dragons myself. Ethster, Katrene, and Darbus. The magic a book can do! All in a- hang on, Ethster has a message:

DARBUS SAYS HRRR

Ha,ha. The hrrrring sound dragons make mean hi, yes, or always. Anyway, all in all,this is a great book. Thumbs way up. Of course, don't expect all of it to be gripping.

Hope you love it,

Dragonmstr