They meet on a rainy night, penniless and alone, both of them without a friend in the world. He's a disgraced, down-on-his luck giant, short for his kind, banished forever from his tribe. He just wants to be left alone and pity the poor person who annoys him.

She's a stubborn human girl whose mother had been kidnapped by a evil dictator ? and she's determined to get her back. No matter how long it takes. No matter who gets in her way.

Together they take on an empire.

In this intriguing fantasy about two outcasts on a remarkable journey, Carter offers up a riveting adventure that should appeal to fans of J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series or Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson books. Although this book stands on its own, readers may want also want to try Carter's first foray into his Lost Lands of Rymadoon series, Drawing a Dark Way.

Scott William Carter's first novel, The Last Great Getaway of the Water Balloon Boys, was hailed by Publishers Weekly as a "touching and impressive debut" and won the prestigious 2011 Oregon Book Award for Young Adult Literature. His fantasy from Simon and Schuster, Wooden Bones, chronicling the untold story of Pinocchio, is due out in the summer of 2012. His short stories have appeared in dozens of popular magazines and anthologies. Find out more about his books for young readers (or the young at heart) at rymadoon.com.