Airborn: A Printz Honor Winner – A Swashbuckling Fantasy Adventure Novel of Airships, Pirates, and Discovery

Matt Cruse works as a cabin boy aboard the Aurora, a massive airship that travels hundreds of feet above the ocean and carries wealthy passengers between cities. It is the life he has always wanted, and he feels as buoyant as the hydrium gas that powers the ship. One night, Matt meets a dying balloonist who speaks of beautiful creatures drifting through the skies. When Matt later meets the balloonist's granddaughter, he begins to believe that the man's account may have been true—and that these creatures are real and mysterious. In this adventure, Kenneth Oppel creates an imagined world where the air is populated by transcontinental voyagers, pirates, and previously unknown beings. The story draws inspiration from Jules Verne and Robert Louis Stevenson.