Fireweed by Jill Paton Walsh. 1969 Macmillan Hardcover 1st Edition 1st Impression. Good vintage condition. binding good, some discolouration and light damage on inside covers and yellowing on some pages . A couple of pages at the front torn out (blank page and main title page). Ex library copy. Plastic covering over dust jacket.

Fireweed tells the story of two 15-year-old runaways, Bill and Julie, during the Second World War. Winner of the 1970 Book World Festival Award. Fireweed was reissued in 2013 after many years out of print and considered a forgotten favourite.

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....