From the award-winning and New York Times bestselling author Geraldine McCaughrean comes an utterly immersive and unforgettable novel set during the London Blitz, inspired by her firefighter father.
With World War II looming, four young people sit on a train waiting to be evacuated to a safer place...but they don't want to go. They climb out of the carriage window and head back to Greenwich, forming an unlikely friendship.
They spend their days trying to be useful. Laurence is building a secret machine. Gemmy searches bombed-out homes for things of value - only to find an adorable mutt she can't even give away. Franklin wants to join the Fire Service, although it means lying about his age. Olive looks after her father, who is broken by the deaths of his fellow firefighters. And together, the four roam the streets of London, discovering their resilience amongst the secrets of the city.
But as the Blitz unleashes a barrage of bombs on London, turning the sky ragged with flame, can the friends keep each other safe and survive?
Publishing in the lead-up to the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War, this is a powerful survival story that is brutal yet beautiful in its imagery and depictions of war-torn London.
Full of heartbreak and hope and inspired by the author's firefighter father and his experience of the London Blitz, UNDER A FIRE-RED SKY is a celebration of endurance and friendship during the darkest times.
Geraldine McCaughrean is one of today’s most successful and highly regarded children’s authors. She has won the CILIP Carnegie Medal twice: first in 1988 with A PACK OF LIES and again in 2018 with WHERE THE WORLD ENDS. She’s won the IBW Book Award 2018, the Whitbread Children’s Book Award three times, the Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize, the Smarties Bronze Award four times, the prestigious U.S. Printz Award and the Blue Peter Book of the Year Award. She was chosen to write the official sequel to J. M. Barrie’s Peter Pan, PETER PAN IN SCARLET, which was published to wide critical acclaim.
"McCaughrean writes extraordinary books." – The Sunday Times
“The mind of Geraldine McCaughrean is one of the great natural wonders of our universe.” — Philip Reeve, author of Mortal Engines
“McCaughrean is one of the greatest living children’s authors.” – The Bookseller
Extent: 300 pages
UK publisher: Usborne, April 2025
Primary Agent: Veronique Baxter
Film/ TV agent: DHA (Georgie Smith)
Co-agents: Chinese Bardon Chinese Media; Japanese Tuttle-Mori
All rights available
