Almond, David. The fire-eaters.

Almond, David. The fire-eaters. Delacote, 2004 [0-385-73170-1]
It is the summer of 1962 and Bobby is walking along a British beach with his mom. They spy an crazy man, entertainer - fire-eater, sword swallower, escape artist,etc. At home they tell his father who remembers this guy from the army. Meanwhile they have a new neighbor who decides to do something about the way kids are beaten at school for punishment and Bobby gets involved in that. Everyone is getting depressed about the missile crisis between the US and Cuba. Near the end of the end of the 218 page book a group of families are sitting on the beach waiting for the missiles to fall at the peak of the missile crisis. As unusual, David Almond writes a thought provoking book. Other than the sub-plot of school beatings, I am not sure it will be a popular book with students. There are a lot of "British-isms" which may confuse some American readers.