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Fire Boy: Book 1
Fire Boy is a laugh-out-loud story about friendship, unexpected superpowers, magical sweets, Inca legends and a cat named Lemon - perfect for fans of My Brother is A Superhero and The Parent Agency. When 11-year-old Aidan receives a mysterious package of sweets from South America in the post, he and his two best friends Sadie and Hussein eat one sweet each - and suddenly develop amazing superpowers. Sadie can move objects with her mind. Hussein can control any electronic device. And Aidan can ignite his body at will...though he can't always control the resulting flames.When they discover that the sweets were sent by a dangerous criminal who is trying to hunt them down to get them back, they have to use all their new powers to outwit him ... before everything goes up in a fiery blaze.But can three ordinary kids keep their powers a secret? Will Aidan learn to control his fiery capabilities? Or will the ultimate bad guy spoil the whole adventure?
273 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 19, 2020
6 people are currently reading
31 people want to read
About the author
J.M. Joseph
3 books1 followerI live in Bristol with my wife and two dogs. I teach English to 10-13 year-olds and am the author of three books for children
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
December 21, 2020
This is a funny, kind-hearted, character-led adventure written by a friend of mine who has taught in a Primary School for many years and really knows how to write for his audience. Aidan and friends are your typical group of friends until Aidan receives a mysterious package of sweets in the post. After trying one sweet each (what self-respecting child wouldn't?!) strange things start to happen to the three friends....
This book genuinely made me and my family laugh out loud many times when we read it together and I can't wait to unleash it on the kids in my school library.
This book genuinely made me and my family laugh out loud many times when we read it together and I can't wait to unleash it on the kids in my school library.
July 3, 2021
Fire Boy? Oh yeah, a superhero book. I know how this goes. Well…. Yes and no. With big tops, crime capers, cantankerous grannies and a corker of plot, this is way, way more than a formulaic hero-saves-the-hour kind of story.
It all begins when young Aiden Sweeney receives a strange package in the post. It contains sweets, made in Peru. But these aren’t just any old sweets, and, as it turns out, they weren’t really meant for Aiden. But, kids being kids, Aiden and his excellent friends Sadie and Hussein, get scoffing. And it’s not just a sugar rush they’re hit with. Now possessing quite brilliant powers, they need to navigate home-life and school-life and circus-life (yes, I did just say circus-life) and more importantly, LOW LIFE.
Mwa-ha-ha! Yes, meet the terrifically evil and disgustingly greedy Ash Aitken. And now forget I ever mentioned him, because really, I don’t want to give anything away.
With snappy lists and notes and brilliant chapter-heads, this book will suck you in, fire up your imagination and take you all the way to the bank. That’s not what happens, it’s an expression. Fire Boy is a perfectly crafted story, avoiding predictability and satisfying all those what-abouts that fast-moving tales often leak. Best of all, it’s FUNNY. It really is. The comic timing is terrific. And the humour comes in part because of situation – who doesn’t like a ‘get caught naked’ scene or a few fart mentions? – but it’s mainly down to the characters. Granny in particular is a source of great amusement; she’s sardonic, sarcastic and bombastic; a hilarious handful of a battleaxe. And even Ash Aitken, so slippery and maniacal, gets you giggling. Then there’s the funny business at the circus, with its line-up of excellent characters and my favourite act, Mathilde the fortune teller.
This is a chunk of a book (superb value for money, I’d say) but I suspect any kid with a love of face-ache fun will race through it. And they might learn something too. Because while fire is most certainly the show-stopper, the heart is in die-hard friendships and the determination to do what’s right.
It’s a joy.
It all begins when young Aiden Sweeney receives a strange package in the post. It contains sweets, made in Peru. But these aren’t just any old sweets, and, as it turns out, they weren’t really meant for Aiden. But, kids being kids, Aiden and his excellent friends Sadie and Hussein, get scoffing. And it’s not just a sugar rush they’re hit with. Now possessing quite brilliant powers, they need to navigate home-life and school-life and circus-life (yes, I did just say circus-life) and more importantly, LOW LIFE.
Mwa-ha-ha! Yes, meet the terrifically evil and disgustingly greedy Ash Aitken. And now forget I ever mentioned him, because really, I don’t want to give anything away.
With snappy lists and notes and brilliant chapter-heads, this book will suck you in, fire up your imagination and take you all the way to the bank. That’s not what happens, it’s an expression. Fire Boy is a perfectly crafted story, avoiding predictability and satisfying all those what-abouts that fast-moving tales often leak. Best of all, it’s FUNNY. It really is. The comic timing is terrific. And the humour comes in part because of situation – who doesn’t like a ‘get caught naked’ scene or a few fart mentions? – but it’s mainly down to the characters. Granny in particular is a source of great amusement; she’s sardonic, sarcastic and bombastic; a hilarious handful of a battleaxe. And even Ash Aitken, so slippery and maniacal, gets you giggling. Then there’s the funny business at the circus, with its line-up of excellent characters and my favourite act, Mathilde the fortune teller.
This is a chunk of a book (superb value for money, I’d say) but I suspect any kid with a love of face-ache fun will race through it. And they might learn something too. Because while fire is most certainly the show-stopper, the heart is in die-hard friendships and the determination to do what’s right.
It’s a joy.
March 5, 2020
In this book we meet, Aidan who gets sent a package he opens with his friends Sadie and Hussain only when they each eat a sweet from inside the package do they change, gaining new magical and superhero-esque powers!
Aidan has a strict grandma, dead previous army serving dad, mum who works all hours he has obviously had a bit of a rough upbringing, especially as his grandma approves of old fashioned beatings it seems too and is a bit psychopathic!
As he finds a circus set up near by know him a cirque du freak esque book vibe joins in as he's foreseen by them coming however when his dad's so called old army friend, Ash Aitkens comes to visit and take the parcel off their hands trouble breaks out as the sweets contain a rare juice from a legendary destroyed tree and Ash is set in getting them back for himself to use...
This new series looks set to be like a male hero character version of Alesha Dixon's Lightning Girl as the style of adventure and powers is the same, family and friends are involved and there's a bad guy to beat, thrilling and plenty of detail to the plot this is a series I'll be reading the next book of for sure!
Many thanks to the publishers for allowing me to review this book for them!
Aidan has a strict grandma, dead previous army serving dad, mum who works all hours he has obviously had a bit of a rough upbringing, especially as his grandma approves of old fashioned beatings it seems too and is a bit psychopathic!
As he finds a circus set up near by know him a cirque du freak esque book vibe joins in as he's foreseen by them coming however when his dad's so called old army friend, Ash Aitkens comes to visit and take the parcel off their hands trouble breaks out as the sweets contain a rare juice from a legendary destroyed tree and Ash is set in getting them back for himself to use...
This new series looks set to be like a male hero character version of Alesha Dixon's Lightning Girl as the style of adventure and powers is the same, family and friends are involved and there's a bad guy to beat, thrilling and plenty of detail to the plot this is a series I'll be reading the next book of for sure!
Many thanks to the publishers for allowing me to review this book for them!
October 5, 2021
Extremely funny.
The storyline was good but unfortunately disappointingly executed, I expected more and I expected more questions to be answered than there actually was, which is why I didn't give it the 5 stars I had thought it deserved in the first two chapters after all. Sorry.
The storyline was good but unfortunately disappointingly executed, I expected more and I expected more questions to be answered than there actually was, which is why I didn't give it the 5 stars I had thought it deserved in the first two chapters after all. Sorry.
July 23, 2021
Read this book with my class. Many laugh out loud moments- the children enjoyed it... often laughing at Aiden's misfortunes with Granny! Looking forward to the second book!
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews