Reading giant aloud is hard, but my 10-year-old son liked The Giant from the Fire Sea by John Himmelman so much he didn’t mind me stumbling over words and Giant-speak.

The Giant from the Fire Sea ($22.50, Raincoast Books, Henry Holt and Company) is about Newton, a misfit giant who makes the mistake of looking up and understanding there is more to life then the myths his people still believe. But his joy of science and reading forces him to be punished by his fellow giant and he escapes by crossing the fire sea where he comes out and meets Jat, a boy who wants more from life than collecting coal from the sea. The pair strike up a friendship.

“But when enemy giants threaten to ruin everything, it’s up to Jat and Newton to defend Jat’s village, leading to a journey of a lifetime.”

My son liked the middle grade book, which had lots of action and a good characters, including Jat, Newton and some wonderful strong secondary female characters.

I thought the book a bit slow, but my son who is the right age – eight to 12 – quite enjoyed it. My guess is there will be a sequel.

A copy of this book was provided by Raincoast Books for an honest review.
The opinions are my own.