Airborn

Oppel, Kenneth. 2004. AIRBORN. New York: HarperCollins Publishers. ISBN 0-06-053180-0

“I was born in the air,” states Matt Cruse, cabin boy on the Aurora, an enormous luxury airship that sails across the Paicificus carrying wealthy passengers bound for foreign lands. During one of the voyages headed to Sydney, Australia, tardy passengers, Kate deVries and Miss Simpkins, her chaperone, board the Aurora via an “ornithopter,”( called mosquitoes by the crew because of their incessant buzzing and flitting). Later, arriving in an unmarked airship, pirates plunder the Aurora, and as they leave, a storm buffets their ship into the skin of the Aurora causing Captain Walken to shipwreck the Aurora on an island considerably off-course. While stranded, Kate and Matt find the “cloud cat,” or “half-bird, half-panther,” Kate’s balloonist grandfather had written about in his journal right before he died; Kate is determined to prove him right. This spellbinding book will keep readers on the edges of their seats as they travel through the many adventures with Matt and Kate.

In Airborn, a 2005 Michael L. Printz Honor Book,Kenneth Oppel creates a suspenseful swashbuckling adventure story with imaginary creatures, pirates, and airships seemingly set about 100 years ago, in the air and on an isolated tropical island. The action begins immediately as the Aurora assists a stray hot air balloon with a dying pilot. Using ficticious language like “hydrium” which is gas lighter than air and “alumiron” parts that hold the ship together, Oppel takes his readers for a flight that’ll surely make them want to read the sequel Skybreaker. Vivid details create lasting pictures yet don’t weigh the story down like the description of the volcano as “a glutenous tongue of black and orange lava oozed” or the pirate ship as a “sleek black raptor.” Readers will identify with the protagonist, Matt Cruse, who yearns to be a “sailmaker” like his father as he tells this coming-of-age story filled with adventure, near-death experiences, and fictitious animals making this fantastical novel believable. Through humorous interactions between Kate, Matt and Bruce Lunardi, the boy who took Matt’s job, boys and girls will be captivated and find themselves pulled into the adventures as they relate to the conflicts, tensions and heroic deeds by each character. Sharon Rawlins (2004) from the School Library Journal states, “This rousing adventure has something for everyone: appealing and enterprising characters, nasty villains, and a little romance.”

As an extension, students and teachers may want to visit Kenneth Oppel’s Airborn website which offers “visuals” of the airship and its parts, newspaper articles about the voyage, and a 123-page literature unit created by Martha Martin  for grades 6, 7, 8 or 9.

Airborn has been listed on a number of best books list including the 2005 ALA’s Notable Children’s Books, the 2004 School Library Journal Best Books, and YALSA’s 2005 Best Books for Young Adults.

References

Martin, Martha. 2004. “Airborn by Kenneth Oppel: Literature Unit for Grades 6, 7, 8 or 9.” http://kennethoppel.com/pages/novel%20studies/Airborn%20Novel%20Study.pdf (accessed October 18, 2011).

Oppel, Kenneth. 2011. “Airborn.” Kenneth Oppel. http://kennethoppel.com/airborn/airborn.shtml (accessed October 18, 2011).

Rawlins, Sharon. 2004. "Airborn (Book)." School Library Journal 50, no. 7: 110. Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost (accessed October 19, 2011).