Product Description

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.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #51048 in Books
• Published on: 2007-03-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 352 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780439672443
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

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.

From the Author
Dear readers, people are sometimes confused about the nature of this book. They see a dragon cover, they expect high dragon fantasy - they find a squirrel rescue drama & strange clay figurines (of dragons) instead. If you think that's not for you (try reading the reviews), please jump to the next book, ICEFIRE, or the third in the series, FIRE STAR, where you'll get all the dragon myth you want. This book is called THE FIRE WITHIN for a very specific reason: it's about the joy of writing stories and the power of discovering your creativity, which I believe is important to every child you reads a book. It attempts to answer the question: where does inspiration come from? and uses a dragon as a means to an end. It's gentle, slightly twee in places, and not everyone's 'cup of tea' as we'd say in the UK. But it kicked this writer off on an intuitive journey of exploration which has evolved into a major fantasy series, and I would like to think that young people who read it might be similarly inspired. So thank you to all the hundreds of people who have written and told me how much they love it: read on & have fun! Adults and avid fantasy buffs: please read it for what it is, not for what you hope it will be. Chris d'Lacey 1.7.2005

About the Author
Best-selling author Chris d'Lacey was born in Malta. He has published twenty-two books, including nine novels. His books have been widely translated and his first children's novel, Fly, Cherokee, Fly, was highly commended for the Carnegie Medal. Other titles include The Salt Pirates of Skegness, A Break in the Chain, and From E to You. Writing was not d'Lacey's first career choice. "I never had plans to be a writer," he says. "When I was in my teenage years my dream was to be a famous songwriter. It wasn't until my early thirties that I tried my hand at any sort of fiction. I kicked off with a gentle 'Christmassy' story that grew, alarmingly, into a 250,000 word adult saga about polar bears. I realized then I had the writing bug." After he wrote his first story, he waited seven years to write another. "Then a friend told me about a competition to write a story for young children," states d'Lacey. "I wasn't going to have a go at first - until I found out the first prize was £2000. So I started scribbling, fast!" The story, entitled A Hole at the Pole, didn't win the award, but he sent the story to a publisher and they accepted it. The Fire Within is the magical story about mysterious hand-crafted clay dragons that have unusual powers. d'Lacey's inspiration was a craft shop that sold clay dragons. He fell in love with the dragons, but he didn't have enough money to buy one, so the owner pointed him to a section of the store reserved for dragons that have been chipped. "They were a bit cheaper than the other dragons but no less beautiful," says d'Lacey. "And it was there that I saw the most appealing creature in the whole shop. He had a slight chink out of one foot and his 'topknot' was missing (a 'topknot' is on the top of a dragon's head and looks a bit like a shark's fin) but I bought him in an instant." d'Lacey felt that he needed a magical name, so he called him Gadzooks. Chris alternates writing with full-time employment at Leicester University. He lives in Leicester with his wife, Jay.

Customer Reviews

This was GREAT!
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.....

Joon's Book Review of the awesome book, "The Fire Within"
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

Great book, no violence or bad language
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.