Skybreaker

Book: Skybreaker
Author: Kenneth Oppel
Audience: Teen
In a Nutshell: Indiana Jones at 20,000 ft. with pirates instead of Nazis

Here we have a very worthy follow-up to Airborn, one of the best teen books of 2005. I know, I know, another sequel. Can I help it if authors are writing lots of sequels to my favorite books?

Rather than give you the background on this one myself, I'm sending you to the source. Go check out the official Airborn/Skybreaker website, which is fantastic and well worth a click or two.

Welcome back. So here's my spiel.

At last a student at the Airship Academy, Matt Cruse is on a training assignment when his ship goes too high and spots the Hyperion, a legendary airship thought to have crashed with all its treasures and crew forty years ago. Matt alone knows the last known coordinates, which makes him a target for good and nasty treasure hunters alike- from the ruthless ex-pirate John Rath, to his own friend and first love, Kate DeVries, to the mysterious and beautiful gypsy girl, Nadira. Pirates, gypsies, lost ships, and gold? Who could possibly resist such a combo? Not I. And Oppel does not disappoint. Matt, Kate, and Nadira team up with young captain Hal Slater, whose ship, the Sagarmantha, and crew full of sherpas is one of the few "skybreakers" capable of flying high enough to find the Hyperion.

The Saga makes it to 20,000 ft. and finds the Hyperion with its load of frozen crew members, a collection of rare zoological creatures like a yeti, and a workshop full of inventions. The owner was something of a batty recluse, but a brilliant inventor. But where is the giant pile of gold they expected? Before you think this is adventure is going too smoothly, let's throw in John Rath the ruthless pirate, who doesn't give up easily, and some previously unknown high-altitude creatures that resemble giant flying squid with electrified tentacles. The love quadrilateral between Matt, Kate, Hal and Nadira also keeps Matt's life from getting too simple.

I could not put this book down. Cliched as that may be, it's true, and it's not true very often.