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Voice in the Flames

A powerful and original contemporary novel with a fantasy edge set in the north-east, for readers of 9, 10, 11, 12
By Mike Edwards
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Brief Description
Praise for Riverskin: "Shaped by Teesside dialect and filled with punchy, poetic coinages, this atmospheric debut brings local legend into the everyday." — Guardian "Bold, daring and memorable." — Phil Earle "The atmosphere lingers long after the last page." — The Times Children's Book of the... Read More
Format: Paperback / softback
$1999
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Praise for Riverskin:

"Shaped by Teesside dialect and filled with punchy, poetic coinages, this atmospheric debut brings local legend into the everyday." — Guardian

"Bold, daring and memorable." — Phil Earle

"The atmosphere lingers long after the last page." — The Times Children's Book of the Week

"The Little Mermaid meets Skellig but with discarded shopping trolleys and techno." — The Times

“I am the works. I’ve been there an age. I wus there when they burnt strong. I made it so.”

Jack wishes life could be how it used to be when his dad was around, working at the old steelworks. Now Dad is gone and the works are closed, towering silent and forbidding over the rundown estate.

Then Jack stumbles upon Sal: a spindly old man with candles in his hair who asks Jack to set him alight. Sal claims to be a spirit of the old works, who needs Jack’s help to bring it back to its former glory. Jack is drawn to the man’s promises and the hope it holds for his whole family. But at what price?

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781529524000

Publisher: Walker Books Ltd

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 04 June 2026

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Walker Books Ltd

Audience: Children

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 22.0mm

Width: 128.0mm

Height: 196.0mm

Weight: 190g

Pages: 272

Collections

Children's Books Children's Fiction Children’s, Teenage and Educational Mike Edwards Young Adult

About the Author

Mike Edwards is a writer and spoken word performer who has performed at festivals and events across the UK, including as poetry coach on Apples and Snakes’ national slam poetry project Shake the Dust, and BBC Radio 3’s spoken word show The Verb. He has a Masters in Creative Writing from Northumbria University and facilitates creative workshops in schools, prisons and community venues. He is a recipient of a New Writing North Northern Promise Award and published his first children's book, Riverskin, in 2025.

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