Into the Stone Land — Robert Stanek

A Magic Lands novel! Tall's people spend their entire lives in a floating world. They are born, live, and die in this water-soaked place. Now Tall must go into the wilds alone and return with one of the great ones to prove himself and to win the heart of the girl he loves. But Tall's path is much more challenging than he ever imagines, for on his journey he will unravel clues to the disappearance of his best friend, Ray, and those clues will lead him to the stone land. Though the stillness of the stone land makes Tall landsick, he must continue on--not only for Ray's sake, but also because Ray is said to be the one hope of his people against an oppressive ruler.