The Giant from the Fire Sea

March 15, 2019
Can giants and humans overcome their differences to battle a common enemy?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. John Himmelman explores his themes with a sprightly, engaging cast of default-white characters; this is also reflected in Jeff Himmelman's whimsical chapter heads. While some sections seem to exist as action for action's sake--and it can get a tad gruesome--the narrative as a whole offers a cohesive adventure story with a few surprise twists.A sweet tale about a different scientific revolution and its rocky start. (Fantasy. 9-12)

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April 1, 2019
Grades 3-6 Jat and Newton are both outsiders; Jat is picked on for being perpetually sooty from his dangerous job collecting coal from the fire sea, and Newton has a philosopher's mind in a society wary of his stargazing. So despite the fact that Newton is a 50-foot giant and Jat is, well, not, they understand each other. But not everyone in Jat's village is able to look beyond Newton's fearsome appearance, and, when the giants from whom Newton fled arrive looking to properly punish him (and hungry for a snack of humans), the two friends and the rest of the village will learn that the biggest foe of all is fear itself. Newton's adorable idiosyncrasies and profound wisdom are a bright light in this feel-good story. With sweet illustrations by John Himmelman's son at the start of each chapter and nods to the classic story of Jack and the Beanstalk and Roald Dahl's The BFG, the latest from the prolific author of the Bunjitsu Bunny series is well worth a read.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)