Junior Booklover Contest Winner Hannah, 14 from London, ON

Matt Cruse is a young man who dreams of captaining one of the world's huge air ships but who now finds himself stuck at the Academy and studying in a position he feels is below him and a waste of his time, as an assistant navigator on the Flotsam. Then by strange chance, they stumble across a legendary ghost ship, the Hyperion, long since having vanished into thin air. It was said to have been carrying a vast treasure, but no one had ever been able to discover its whereabouts and reclaim its legendary cargo. After an accident resulting the death of the official navigator, Matt finds himself the only person in the world with the Hyperion's last known coordinates, which everyone wants. Suddenly, Matt finds himself back in the air along with his friend Kate de Vries, a gypsy girl, Nadira, and the handsome young pilot of the Sagarmatha, a ship capable of "breaking the sky" and rising higher than 20,000 feet, on an expedition destined to uncover the secrets of the Hyperion.

Skybreaker is the intensely thrilling sequel to Kenneth Oppel's Airborn, and just as enjoyable as the first, if not more so. From the first word, Skybreaker is fast-paced and absorbing, throwing the reader into an alternate history full of airships and ornithopters, of furor and adventure. The writing is brilliant. Written in first person it's quite simple and written in a manner befitting the character. It flows in a way that makes sense, is easy to follow and pleasing to the mind all at once.

The basic plot is your typical ghost ship adventure, but Kenneth Oppel reinvents it just as he previously did with Airborn's story based on your standard desert island shipwreck. It becomes new and original again while still retaining those plot points that made it exhilarating in the first place - danger, intrigue, and romance, and let's not forget an array of villainous pirates!

As always, Kenneth Oppel has adorned his story with absolutely brilliant characters. Each has their own unique personality and a multitude of distinct idiosyncrasies, such as Kate's unconscious flare of her nostrils when she is angered. However, they are unlike people one would encounter in real life, but they could easily be found in a suspenseful movie, as they are just a little larger than life. However, I quickly found myself identifying with Kate the most. She is stubborn, intelligent and independent - qualities I feel I share.

I loved the interactions between Kate and Matt, the jealousy, the care, the love, and how they danced around each other for most of the book, neither willing to give in or admit their feelings or mistakes.

Nadira was also a wonderful character. She was mysterious, headstrong and very determined. She was similar to Kate but vastly different at the same time. Hal was also a marvellous character and his inclusion in the story was very clever. He was the archetypal leading man - tall, dark, and handsome. Obviously, he was very intimidating to Matt and was a catalyst for the tension that sprang up in Matt and Kate's relationship.

Together, these characters had an incredible group dynamic, resulting in brilliantly written exchanges between characters, with much of what was important being left unsaid.

Skybreaker is an absolutely astounding novel encompassing good writing, fantastic characters and an exceptional plot in a fresh and imaginative way. This thrilling tale will keep you stuck to your seat, your eyes glued to the page and your mind ensnared with adrenaline charged action from the moment you peel back the cover.

Rating: 5/5

The control car of the giant airship is almost entirely encasedin ice, the ship’s name barely visible on her tattered skin: Hyperion.Matt Cruse can’t believe his eyes. Can this really be the legendary lostcraft, now a frozen coffin to a ghostly crew and a vast treasure? At 20,000feet, aboard a decrepit training ship, Matt is almost unconscious from the highaltitude, but of all the oxygen-starved crew, he alone remembers the Hyperion’scoordinates. Suddenly it seems that everyone is after those coordinates. Kate deVries, Matt’s rich, young lady friend, has her reasons. But what about thestrange gypsy girl and the handsome captain who’s going to pilot them back tothe Hyperion? In an adventure that will test his courage, his skill andhis heart, Matt is about to take off on the ride of his life.

Dazzling in every way, Skybreaker is as wonderful asequel to Airborn as Sunwing and Firewing were to Silverwing.From the very first page, readers are propelled back into the Edwardian fantasyworld of hydrium-powered airships and wondrous personal flying machines. Thereare air pirates and aerozoans—deadly jellyfish-like creatures—not to mentiondaring rooftop chases and awe-inspiring feats of flight. Buoyed by Kenneth Oppel’sstunning imagination and a high-powered marketing campaign, Skybreaker isa surefire blockbuster.

Visit skybreaker.ca.

KENNETH OPPEL is a literary phenomenon who had his first novel for children published at age 17. His Silverwing Saga, which includes Silverwing, Sunwing and Firewing, has sold over a million copies worldwide and has won numerous awards. His most recent bestsellers include Skybreaker, which won the 2006 Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz Children's Book Award and the Red Maple Award, and Airborn, winner of the 2004 Governor General's Award and the 2005 Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz Award. Kenneth Oppel, voted Author of the Year in 2006 by the Canadian Booksellers Association, lives in Toronto with his wife and three children. He recently received the Vicky Metcalf Award for Children's Literature. Visit him online at www.kennethoppel.com or www.darkwing.ca.