Fireweed

Fireweed
ISBN: 9781471401749
Publication Date: 1 August 2013

Bill is a fifteen-year-old runaway evacuee, and he's finding that surviving on the streets of London is pretty easy, thank you very much. He's fed by a local cafe owner, he earns some cash as a barrow-boy in Covent Garden, and sleeping in the Underground air-raid shelters is cosy - if a bit smelly. Things get more complicated for Bill with the arrival of Julie. She's a runaway too, and although she's a bit posh, she's just as determined as Bill to stay free of interfering parents and 'the social'. But although it's fun for a while to duck Jerry missiles and camp out in bombed-out houses, the reality of living through the Blitz quickly begins to set in. Winter is coming, and Bill and Julie will discover that playing at being grown-ups can be a very dangerous game...First published in 1970, and winner of that year's Book World Festival Award, Fireweed evokes a time of tin Spitfires, powdered eggs, warm woollen mittens and reading by firelight. Perfect for readers young and old, this book is a beautifully written classic, full of adventure, heroism and British wartime courage.

About the Author

Jill Paton Walsh was born Gillian Bliss in London in 1937. Jill has won several awards, including the Whitbread Prize, The Boston Globe-Horn Book Award, The Universe Prize, and the Smarties Grand Prix. In 1970 FIREWEED won the Book World Festival Award, and her adult novel KNOWLEDGE OF ANGELS was nominated for the 1994 Booker Prize. After living for many years in Richmond, she is now settled in Cambridge. In 1996 she received the CBE for services to literature, and was elected a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.