Giant

(Ages 10+) When his life is drastically altered by a move to London to live with an uncle he’s never known, Ross Norton gives up hope of ever enjoying life. He hasn’t any relationship with his uncle, he’s teased at school for being American, and he’s entirely bored with London. All of this changes, however, when Ross discovers a peculiar boy sitting outside his window one night—a boy who refers to himself as Giant McGinty and claims to be the usurped ruler of a vast empire. In order to return to his empire, Giant explains, he has come to enlist the help of Ross in regaining a highly sought-after treasure he lost long ago. Although Ross finds this stranger and his statements odd, events begin to take place that seem far too coincidental to be unrelated to what Giant has said, and the two dive into a secretive friendship that takes them through the slums of London and into the Scottish highlands as they outwit pirates and spies, ultimately bringing painful truths into the open.