Lucy Otswego is a big girl who towers over just about everyone and everything in her small Alaskan town-except for her father's reputation as a mean drunk. At fifteen, Lucy runs away from the cruel classmates who see her only as the Giant, the neighboring adults who pity her, and the abusive father whose fleeting attention is worse than his indifference.

When the crew of a crabbing boat assumes she's much older than she is and invites her to sign on for the season, she jumps at the chance to escape her teenage life. Buoyed by the camaraderie of her unwitting shipmates and the thrilling dangers of her new world, Lucy quickly masters the mind-numbing cold and the back-breaking work.

Lucy the Giant faces life on her own terms, not as an oversized teen, but as a powerful adult. But in her masquerade, she learns that there are no shortcuts to growing up.