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    The Giant-Slayer
    The Giant-Slayer
    The Giant-Slayer
    Audiobook9 hours

    The Giant-Slayer

    Written by Iain Lawrence

    Narrated by Suzanne Toren

    5/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    Award-winning author Iain Lawrence creates an entertaining and magical adventure in The Giant-Slayer. It's 1955, and Laurie Valentine's best friend Dickie has contracted polio. Confined to a breathing machine in the hospital, he begs Laurie to stay by his side and tell him a story. As Laurie creates the tale of the giant Collosso and the young boy destined to stop him, Dickie starts to believe he's part of the story. But when Laurie is forced to stop telling the story, Dickie has to reach within himself to create his own ending.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRecorded Books, Inc.
    Release dateMar 26, 2010
    ISBN9781449805081
    The Giant-Slayer

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    Reviews for The Giant-Slayer

    5/5

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    • 5/5
      In 1950, polio was the big scare. No one was sure how you contracted it and how to cure it. Although the immunization was soon developed, there were many people who contracted it, some of whom recovered, some of whom died and some of whom were confined to iron lungs to help them breathe.And so it is that twelve year Laurie’s best (and only) friend Dickie gets polio, presumably from swimming in the local creek. Laurie’s father is a fund raiser for March of Dimes, an organization whose purpose is to fund research and medical care for polio victims. He knows when it is and isn’t contagious, but he’d be upset if he knew Laurie was visiting Dickie and his two roommates, Chip and Carolyn, in the hospital.Dickie is always upbeat. Chip is neither upbeat nor depressed. Carolyn hates the world. She’s been stuck in her iron lung for eight years, her parents gradually decreasing their visits and ultimately moving away. Laurie was always a good story teller and to pass the time, she begins telling her friends a story.Once upon a time, there was a giant named Colossus who terrorized the countryside. You cannot imagine how big he is. He is huge. One evening, in a horrible thunder storm, during a crack of thunder, Jimmy is born to an innkeeper and his wife. At that exact moment, Colossus has an uneasy feeling. He knows that when Jimmy grows up, he will come looking to kill the giant. As the son of an innkeeper, Jimmy hears stories from the travelers stopping at the inn: hunters, minstrels, and traders and is fascinated by them. The only problem with Jimmy traveling to slay the giant is that Jimmy is less than three feet tall, and due to a Wishman’s spell cast on him, he will grow no taller. How can a three foot tall boy kill and huge giant?I’ve always liked Iain Lawrence. His teen books, B is for Buster, Gemini Summer and The Lightkeeper’s Daughter are wonderful reads. The Giant-Slayer is the first book of his that I’ve read for middle schoolers and it’s a delight. The story is a great story full of monsters and dragons and witches and gypsies. The descriptions of the countryside and the giant and the characters (both real and imaginary) are vivid, enabling you to picture them. The stories of Dickie and Chip and Carolyn emerge as Laurie continues her tale. There are some surprises along the way. You might learn a little something about the 1950s while you’re reading the book. But, don’t let that stop you. The Giant-Slayer is a giant sized tale.
    • 4/5
      I really enjoyed this book and I am looking forward to hear my nine year olds opinion. It was a great way to learn about a terrible disease and I am not sure whether I enjoyed the parts in reality or fantasy more. Well written. I did show my daughter a picture of a child in an iron lung prior to her reading it so that she would have an easier time envisioning it.
    • 5/5
      A spellbinding story within a story. Fantasy and reality meet here and Lawrence blends them so magically.
    • 5/5
      I read this book after a recommendation by Book Passage in Corte Madera, California. The book is about a girl named Laurie who grows up in the 1950s during an epidemic of Polio before the invention of the first polio vaccine. She is a compassionate friend to Dickie, a childhood buddy of hers whose condition of polio worsens. The mythology woven throughout the book is well-done, and helps to lift the reader to a hopeful note, despite the grittier elements of the story.I especially recommend this book to anyone who has a child with an illness, or a sensitive child who is concerned for a friend. Definitely give the book a try.