Giant

Nicola Skinner's Giant is a darkly funny fantasy for 9 year olds about a girl and the servant giant who has looked after her since she was three.

What happens

Minnie Wadlow lives on Scarred Island, in a walled town full of fountains, flowers and almond pastries. Children from the grand families are each paired with a giant. Minnie's is Speck, the shortest giant in the quarter at a measly twelve feet.

Speck is kind, clumsy and a bit cheeky when nobody's looking, and Minnie loves her. There's just one problem. On her twelfth birthday, Minnie will have her ceremony, and after that Speck won't be hers any more. She's never quite dared to ask why.

The story opens with Minnie breaking the rules. It's a boiling hot day, the lagoon is empty, and she pretends to have a cramp so Speck has to jump in and "rescue" her. For forty-five glorious minutes a girl and a giant swim together, eye to eye for the first time. It's such a happy scene. It's also the moment Minnie spots scars across Speck's back.

That's how this book works. On the surface everything is lovely. Underneath, something is very wrong, and your reader will start to feel it long before Minnie does. Why do the statues in town look so much like giants? Why do Minnie's parents want her to look as scruffy as possible for Florin's big ceremony?

The narrator talks straight to you, with lots of cheeky asides, which makes the darker bits easier to take. Minnie herself is a great mix of brave and a bit bossy (she does order Speck about, and she knows she shouldn't).

Worth knowing before you hand it over

Giants on the island are treated very cruelly, and the book doesn't hide it. A giant who tries to take a child has his hand chopped off by order of the company boss. Captured giants are left to starve in a dungeon, and Minnie hears one moaning in pain. Speck's back is scarred, and the officials who watch the giants carry whips. A child who's upset by cruelty might find it tough going. A child who loves a mystery with a strong sense of right and wrong will be completely hooked.

What to read next

If Nicola Skinner's way of talking straight to the reader goes down well, try Nicola Skinner's Storm. It's told by Frankie, a girl born in the middle of a storm, and it's just as funny and just as sharp.