The Giant from the Fire Sea
by John Himmelman
Middlegrade Science Fiction
Jat is a boy who wants more from life than collecting coal from the Fire Sea.
Newton is a misfit giant, cast out of his homeland for his "blasphemous" interest in the cosmos.
Brought together by chance, the two become the best of friends. But when enemy giants threaten to ruin everything, it's up to Jat and Newton to defend Jat’s village, leading to the journey of a lifetime.
Illustrations by Jeff Himmelman
"Giants only exist in nannytales, or so Jat thought. But when one arrives on the shore of the Fire Sea, Jat is forced to rethink his understanding of the world and how it works. Once Jat and the others in his village grow used to having a giant in their midst, they become comfortable trading chores for food. But this precarious balance between species is threatened when more giants arrive, giants who are not as reasonable as Newton. These giants not only want to (and do) eat the villagers, they also want to capture Newton and return him to their own land to be punished for daring to practice rudimentary astronomy instead of simply accepting the common thinking. An exploration of the joys and dangers of being different, the boundaries of loyalty, and the power of learning, the tale is told within a well-built world that plays gently with readers’ knowledge of fairy-tale conventions." [From Kirkus Reviews]
Some samples
