Airborn. Kenneth Oppel. Toronto, ON: HarperCollins, 2004. 322 pp, cloth, $22.99. ISBN 0-00-200537-9. Grades 7 and up / Ages 12 and up. Review by Sylvia Pantaleo. ***1/2 /4 Reviewed from Advance Reading Copy.

excerpt:

Spyglass to my face, I slowly swept the heavens. Here at the Aurora's summit, shielded by a glass observation dome, I had a three-sixty view of the sky around and above the ship. The lookout's job was to watch for weather changes, and also for other ships, especially anything suspicious. Over the Pacificus, you don't see much traffic, though earlier I'd caught the distant flicker of a steamer ploughing the waves towards the Orient. But boats were no concern of ours. We sailed eight hundred feet above them.

In an imaginary past, great airships, fueled by hydrium, the lightest gas in the world, traverse the globe. Fifteen-year-old Matt Cruse, the narrator of the book, is the cabin boy for the Aurora, a 900-foot luxury airship. Matt's father was killed three years ago while working on the Aurora, and Matt feels closest to his father while airborne.

     While on watch in the crow's nest one night, Matt sights a hot-air balloon hanging in the night sky. Matt makes a daring rescue to save the sole occupant in the gondola of the Endurance. Before the rescued man dies, he speaks of the beautiful creatures he saw in the sky and remarks that "Kate ... would've loved them."

     One year later, Matt is bitterly disappointed when he learns that he will not receive a well-deserved promotion as another adolescent, whose father is wealthy, has been assigned to the Aurora. Matt meets Miss Kate de Vries and her chaperone, Miss Simpkins, who are on voyage to Sydney. Matt learns that Kate is the granddaughter of the man he rescued from the Endurance, and she shares his journal with Matt. Matt reads the excerpts about the creatures that Kate's grandfather saw in the sky. Kate is determined to locate the winged species and take a photograph of the mysterious creatures.

     Ruthless pirates board and pillage the Aurora. A storm front blows the pirates' ship into the Aurora, and the luxury ship's hull is punctured. The Aurora manages to land safely on an island, and Kate's search for the winged creatures begins in earnest. As well as locating the mysterious creature they name the cloud cat, Kate and Matt encounter the pirates again. The duo must escape from their buccaneer captors and save the other crew and passengers aboard the Aurora.

     Both Kate and Matt are determined characters. Matt is a hard-working young man who is dedicated to both his family and the Aurora. Kate, who defies the gender expectations of her society, is strong-willed and resolute in her search for the winged creatures. As well as sharing several adventures in the novel, Kate and Matt are also romantically attracted to each other.

     Oppel creates a believable world, and, as a reader, I was most intrigued with his unique idea of great soaring airships traversing the world. Readers discover the multiple layers of meaning of the book's title as they follow the characters' adventures. Although there are a few conveniences in plot development, the novel is fast-paced and entertaining. The many conflicts in the book combine for an engaging read.

     According to the publisher, a web site, <www.airborn.ca> , will be available on January 1, 2004 for those interested in reading the journal entries of Matt Cruse "as he charts his adventure online."

Highly Recommended.

Sylvia Pantaleo is an Associate Professor of Language Arts in the Faculty of Education at the University of Victoria, Victoria, BC.

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Published by The Manitoba Library Association ISSN 1201-9364

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