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Jan 10, 2012 | ISBN 9780440239710 | Middle Grade (8-12) Buy *This format is not eligible to earn points towards the Reader Rewards program
Nov 10, 2009 | ISBN 9780375893742 | Middle Grade (8-12) Buy
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Jan 10, 2012 | ISBN 9780440239710 | Middle Grade (8-12)
Nov 10, 2009 | ISBN 9780375893742 | Middle Grade (8-12)
A girl’s imagination transports polio-afflicted kids into a fantastic world.The spring of 1955 tests Laurie Valentine’s gifts as a storyteller. After her friend Dickie contracts polio and finds himself confined to an iron lung, Laurie visits him in the hospital. There she meets Carolyn and Chip, two other kids trapped inside the breathing machines. Laurie’s first impulse is to flee, but Dickie begs her to tell them a story. And so Laurie begins her tale of Collosso, a rampaging giant, and Jimmy, a tiny boy whose destiny is to become a slayer of giants.As Laurie embellishes her tale with gnomes, unicorns, gryphons, and other fanciful creatures, Dickie comes to believe that he is a character in her story. Little by little Carolyn, Chip, and other kids who come to listen, recognize counterparts as well. Laurie’s tale is so powerful that when she’s prevented from continuing it, Dickie, Carolyn, and Chip take turns as narrators. Each helps bring the story of Collosso and Jimmy to an end—changing the lives of those in the polio ward in startling ways.
Iain Lawrence is a journalist, travel writer, and avid sailor, and the author of many acclaimed novels, including Ghost Boy, The Skeleton Tree, Lord of the Nutcracker Men, and the High Seas Trilogy: The Wreckers, The Smugglers, andThe Buccaneers. He grew up moving all… More about Iain Lawrence
Review, The Wall Street Journal, December 5, 2009:“Young Readers…will not quickly forget this moving, imaginative glimpse of the not-so-long ago past.”Starred Review, Publishers Weekly, November 16, 2009:“Distinctive, emotionally honest characters and consistently engrossing prose make this book a standout.” Starred Review, Kirkus Reviews, October 16, 2009:“This profound, magical, dryly comical novel reminds readers of the power of story, but they will already be feeling it in their bones. Masterful.”
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