Paddy Clarke is ten years old. Paddy Clarke lights fires. Paddy Clarke´s name is written in wet cement all over Barrytown, north Dublin. Paddy Clarke´s heroes are Father Damien (and the lepers), Geronimo and George Best. Paddy Clarke has a brother called Francis, but Paddy calls him Sinbad and hates him because that´s the rule. Paddy Clarke knows the exact moment to knock a dead scab from his knee. Paddy Clarke loves his Ma and Da, but it seems like they don´t love each other, and Paddy´s world is falling apart...