Skybreaker

December 1, 2005
Gr 6-10 -Oppel does it again! This action-packed sequel to "Airborn" (HarperCollins, 2004) starts with a bang and doesn't let up until the satisfying ending. Matt Cruse, now a student at the Airship Academy, finds himself training as a navigator aboard a worn out, tumbledown cargo airship piloted by a reckless captain. Flying through a typhoon at dangerously high altitudes, they see a ghost ship that set out 40 years before and was never seen again. The captain risks his life, the crew, and his ship as he tries to reach the "Hyperion" to claim the fortune in gold that's rumored to be aboard. His attempt fails after the crew is stricken with altitude sickness. Only Matt remembers the coordinates of where "Hyperion" was last seen. This knowledge plunges him and Kate, now a pilot in training herself, into a breakneck race against a pirate intent on getting to the riches. They find themselves aboard a new type of pressurized ship called "Skybreaker" piloted by Hal, a wealthy and dashing captain with designs on Kate. What they discover aboard "Hyperion" is a more fabulous treasure than any of them could have imagined. That is, if they survive to tell anyone about it. This worthy companion to "Airborn" maintains its roller-coaster thrills in true swashbuckling style." -Sharon Rawlins, Piscataway Public Library, NJ"

Copyright 2005 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

November 15, 2005
Gr. 6-9. In this anticipated sequel to Oppel's steampunk sky opera, " Airborn "(2003), selected as a 2003 Printz Honor Book, adventure calls when officer trainee Matt Cruse obtains navigational coordinates to a ghost ship stranded at dangerous heights. Realizing the ship's loot could help him vault class-related social obstacles, he warily joins a salvage expedition aboard a high-altitude skybreaker. Headstrong heiress Kate deVries participates, but many new characters are introduced, most significantly an intriguing Romany girl and a brash captain whose respective presences threaten the romance between Matt and Kate. The plot cleaves closely to that of " Airborn," confronting the protagonists with a mystery left behind by an eccentric genius, a new airborn species, and adrenalin-pumping clashes with pirates. As in the first book, Oppel's loving evocations of his airtight alternate reality are more successful than his characterizations, a weakness that is troubling in exoticized descriptions of sandalwood-and-spice-scented gypsy Nadera. There's nothing new here, but Oppel fans and newcomers alike will happily stay aboard to the tinglingly good conclusion.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2005, American Library Association.)