Airborn

Airborn by Kenneth Oppel, 2004

You will enjoy this book! I loved it and could not wait to get back to it when I had to put it down.

Matt Cruse was born in the air, he only feels truly himself when he is aloft in the airship Aurora. Matt knows every strut and dial of the ship. It is his home. He becomes friends with Kate, a wealthy young passenger who is retracing her grandfather's balloon journey and is in search of the fantastic flying "beings" he wrote about in his journal.

A pirate attack, a shipwreck, scary flying creatures that they dub, "cloud cats" keep this story moving and kept me turning the pages until the end.

Matt is an interesting character who is still coming to terms with the death of his father and his new feelings for Kate.

Oppel makes you feel the movement of the ship, smell the sweetish odor of the "hydrium" gas, and feel the heat of the island. The time period is seemingly in the past in the era of the great luxury liners but the idea of hydrium and the Academy where ships officers are trained have a futuristic feel.

Great job. This is one of the best books I have read this year.