Heaven Eyes
Coming-of-Age Young Adult Fiction Adventure Fiction British Literature Magical Realism Contemporary Fantasy Mythic Fiction
David Almond’s Carnegie-shortlisted Heaven Eyes (2000) is a haunting, lyrical gem that rarely surfaces in collectible condition. This bound-proof paperback—never sold to the public—gives readers the earliest state of the text, making it the most elusive format for Almond completists and YA collectors alike. Only 216 pages long, the novel distills the author’s signature blend of magical realism and working-class northern England into a slim volume that feels both timeless and urgent.
The story follows three runaway orphans who drift downriver on a makeshift raft and reach a derelict printworks where the mysterious, web-fingered Heaven Eyes lives among the mud and machinery. Almond’s prose is spare yet luminous, turning the industrial Tyne into a mythic borderland where friendship, grief and redemption mingle with the tides. Young-adult readers love the break-neck pacing and the tender, unconventional family that forms; adult collectors admire the echoes of Blake and Milton that ripple beneath the surface.
This vintage 2000 paperback carries the light wear you’d expect from an advance proof that has spent two decades in private hands—cover curl, a corner crease, but no owner names, stamps or internal marks. Clean, bright pages make it perfect for reading or display, and the “Not For Resale” band across the spine instantly signals its scarcity on the secondary market. If you’re building a David Almond first-edition set, hunting Carnegie contenders in original state, or simply want the most collectible version of one of Britain’s most beloved contemporary fables, this Heaven Eyes proof is the copy to own.
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