Airborn - Hardcover

Oppel, Kenneth

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0060531800 ISBN 13: 9780060531805

Publisher: Harpercollins Childrens Books, 2004

Synopsis

Sailing toward dawn, and I was perched atop the crow's nest, being the ship's eyes. We were two nights out of Sydney, and there'd been no weather to speak of so far. I was keeping watch on a dark stack of nimbus clouds off to the northwest, but we were leaving it far behind, and it looked to be smooth going all the way back to Lionsgate City. Like riding a cloud. . . .

Matt Cruse is a cabin boy on the Aurora, a huge airship that sails hundreds of feet above the ocean, ferrying wealthy passengers from city to city. It is the life Matt's always wanted; convinced he's lighter than air, he imagines himself as buoyant as the hydrium gas that powers his ship. One night he meets a dying balloonist who speaks of beautiful creatures drifting through the skies. It is only after Matt meets the balloonist's granddaughter that he realizes that the man's ravings may, in fact, have been true, and that the creatures are completely real and utterly mysterious.

In a swashbuckling adventure reminiscent of Jules Verne and Robert Louis Stevenson, Kenneth Oppel, author of the best-selling Silverwing trilogy, creates an imagined world in which the air is populated by transcontinental voyagers, pirates, and beings never before dreamed of by the humans who sail the skies.

About this title

Review:

Firewing: "Plenty of rousing action; special effects on a grand scale; a leavening of humor as well as stimulating thoughts."--School Library Journal

From the Publisher:

Airborn marks a stunning new phase in Kenneth Oppel's career. This is a thrilling, fast-paced adventure story (with a Titanic-esque friendship regardless of social class) which will appeal to boys and girls of all ages.

Kenneth Oppel's reputation continues to build all over the world - he has won every children's choice prize going in Canada, as well as major literary awards.

About this edition

• Publisher: Harpercollins Childrens Books
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 0060531800
• ISBN 13: 9780060531805
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 355