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![Airborn: A Printz Honor Winner by [Kenneth Oppel]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41qp3qsZWyL._SY346_.jpg)
Airborn: A Printz Honor Winner Kindle Edition
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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.
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherHarperCollins
- Publication dateSeptember 10, 2009
- Reading age13 - 15 years
- Grade level8 - 9
- File size1096 KB
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Editorial Reviews
Review
About the Author
KENNETH OPPEL is one of the most highly regarded authors of middle-grade fiction writing today. In addition to the Bloom trilogy, some of his best-known titles are Inkling, a New York Times notable book and a New York Public Library best book of the year; The Nest, which was named a New York Times editors’ choice and best book of the year by the CLA, the Globe and Mail, Publishers Weekly, the Wall Street Journal and Booklist, among others; Airborn, winner of the Governor General’s Literary Award and a Printz Honor Book; and the million-copy-selling Silverwing trilogy. Born on Vancouver Island, Oppel has lived in Nova Scotia and Newfoundland, as well as England and Ireland. He now resides in Toronto with his wife and children. Find him online at www.kennethoppel.ca and @KennethOppel.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.From School Library Journal
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From Booklist
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the audio_download edition.
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Product details
- ASIN : B002OMZTQW
- Publisher : HarperCollins (September 10, 2009)
- Publication date : September 10, 2009
- Language : English
- File size : 1096 KB
- Text-to-Speech : Enabled
- Screen Reader : Supported
- Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
- X-Ray : Enabled
- Word Wise : Not Enabled
- Sticky notes : On Kindle Scribe
- Print length : 378 pages
- Best Sellers Rank: #289,223 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- Customer Reviews:
About the author

Kenneth Oppel is the author of numerous books for young readers. His award-winning SILVERWING trilogy has sold over a million copies worldwide, and been adapted as an animated TV series and stage play. AIRBORN was winner of a Michael L Printz Honor Book Award, and the Canadian Governor General's Award for Children's Literature; its sequel, SKYBREAKER, was a New York Times bestseller and was named Children's Novel of the Year by the London Times. He is also the author of HALF BROTHER, THIS DARK ENDEAVOR, THE BOUNDLESS, and THE NEST (winner of the CLA Book of the Year for Children). His latest books are INKLING and BLOOM, the first book in a new sci-fi thriller series. Born on Vancouver Island, Oppel has lived in Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, England, Ireland, and now lives in Toronto with his wife and children.
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Reviewed in the United States on September 13, 2011
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Top reviews
Top reviews from the United States
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My thoughts on the book:
I finished this book a little over 2 days while I was on vacation. The characters are very well written, you get a good sense of who they are and become very attached to the few leading characters. The two main characters are Matt Cruse and Kate de Vries. Matt is a level headed young man who thinks everything through and does it quickly and doesn't hesitate to act when he thinks it's needed. He is very adapt on the air ship, and because he has spent so much time on them he know what everything does as well as every inch of them.
Kate on the other hand is a strong willed young woman who doesn't let anything get in the way of her goal, and this gets her into trouble, as well as Matt, throughout the book. Kate is definitely not your average female who is helpless, she is very well studied and reads a lot of books and is very knowledgeable about things Matt has never dreamed of knowing about. That being said she does relay on him for some of the more practical things such as how to find there way back when they go traipsing through the jungle.
All in all I really enjoyed this book it reminded me of some of the Jules Vern books I have read. Very fun and enjoyable read.
First, the story itself is entertaining and creative. It isn't at all formulaic. It has a good balance between fantasy and reality. The era is nearly the same as the early 20th century, but there are enough subtle twists to make the reader suspend disbelief and accept the possibility of existence of strange creatures and undiscovered islands. For instance, the gas used to make the airships ligher than air is called "hydrium". The metal of the airship is "alumiron". There are continents named "Europa" and "North Americus". It's just delightful how Oppel's world in Airborn is almost, but not quite, the same as ours.
Second, this is a really, really well written book. The writing technique is great. The mood is consistent and the vocabulary is just right for young adults. We're told the story from Matt's perspective, and to me his character, that of the female protagonist Kate, as well as the other main characters, are all well developed with just the right amount of introspection. The descriptions of action are great. The pace is even, and kept my attention enough that I finished the book in a couple of days. I've read a lot of young adult fiction, and I really think that Oppel is the best writer for young adults that I've read.
Third, the book is perfect for general audiences. It shows that you don't need to have a lot of profanity, violence and sex to sell books and interest readers. My son is a pretty typical teen who likes Eminem, Robin Thicke, South Park, Family Guy, etc. But he also loved this book. As a parent, it was great to see my son enjoy a book with a hero who has a sense of duty, works hard and loves his family. There's no profanity and not much violence (and no graphic violence). There's certainly romance, but nothing risqué. One last thing- although the story 's central character is a boy, Matt, I would recommend this book for both boys and girls. Kate is every bit as interesting and well-developed a character as Matt.
Top reviews from other countries

This book had the lot. It's a rip-roaring yarn of adventure set in a world where airships rule the skies and danger lurks for the unwary. Think Treasure Island meets Jules Verne. It would be the perfect YA read, except for the fact I'm over 50 and really enjoyed it. This was my first book by Kenneth Oppel, but it most likely won't be my last.




I also enjoyed it. Plenty of derring do.