airborn

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Book Reviews and Synopses

Airborn

Kenneth Oppel

Oppel, Kenneth. Airborn. HarperCollins Children's Books. New York, New York. 2004.

Airborn is a turn-of-the-century science-fiction masterpiece by award winning author Kenneth Oppel, the mastermind behind the bestselling Silverwing Trilogy. This book places you into a plot filled with adventure and will bring you around the world and back.

Airborn is a story about Luke, a fourteen year old boy from a small farming village in Cornwall, England. Luke has always dearly craved adventure, but unfortunately, he was born into a conservative community that focused on three things: religion, farming and taxes. Life was unsatisfactory for Luke, his grades in school never rose above D’s, except in Geography. One day, Luke’s town was invited to send two students to compete in an academic contest, the prize being a trip around the world.

Luke immediately applied for the contest, and was accepted. But to his dismay, the other classmate was John, Luke's rival. The two boys have been at odds since they met in the 1st Grade. They were shipped to London, where they met Lewis Bursnell, sponsor of the competition. Bursnell, an eccentric millionaire, had recently adapted a Zeppelin for the journey. Luke was very excited until he was sabotaged by John, who fed him some meat that had not been cooked properly and sickened Luke. John went on to win the competition, but Luke snuck onto the Zeppelin and watched as he left the ground below. There was no turning back, he was going around the world.

Airborn is a masterful piece for all those who love adventure. This book will be leaving the reader hooked until the end. Sadly, the characters do not develop properly and there are holes in the plot.

3 out of 5 stars

M. Schoenfeld

June 5th, 2012