Jo's Old Site

The Fire Within was first published in Great Britian by Orchard Books in 2001. And this book is the one before Icefire and its author is Chris d’Lacey. Also the book’s ISBN is 978 1 84121 533 4. And the story starts with a twenty year old college student who wrote to Liz Pennykettle saying that he is interested in renting the room but of course there are conditions attached. Then after David had been there for a short while Liz gives David one of her special dragons which he names Gadzooks.

And then after David is given a clay dragon of his own, David then starts getting ideas for stories whenever he thinks of Gadzooks. And it seems uncanny but whatever David Rain writes down on his trusty computer seems to be taking place in real life. As when David first met Liz’s eleven year old daughter who is Lucy she asked him whether he liked squirrels? And he told Lucy that he liked red squirrels. David then finds out that Lucy is concerned about a squirrel she called Conker and he is a injured grey squirrel.

David then does anything he can to help Lucy capture Conker so that he can be helped. And David also writes a story about it as a birthday present for Lucy.

Then after David had gone to the library to find a book on squirrels, he is then told by a helpful lady that there are squirrels in the garden park near the library, and that’s where he finds Snigger who is a squirrel who smiles and apart from Conker the squirrel named Snigger plays a major role in David’s story. And I think that anyone who likes to read animal stories and especially about trying to save animals may like reading Chris d’Lacey’s The Fire Within.