Get the popcorn ready.
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BRAND NEW!
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He has a couple other books as well. Keep your eyes open for these and more:
{Celebrating the books we’ve read in the past week
Sailing toward dawn, and I was perched atop the crow’s nest, being the ship’s eyes. We were two nights out of Sydney, and there’d been no weather to speak of so far. I was keeping watch on a dark stack of nimbus clouds off to the northwest, but we were leaving it far behind, and it looked to be smooth going all the way back to Lionsgate City. Like riding a cloud. . . .
Matt Cruse is a cabin boy on the Aurora, a huge airship that sails hundreds of feet above the ocean, ferrying wealthy passengers from city to city. It is the life Matt’s always wanted; convinced he’s lighter than air, he imagines himself as buoyant as the hydrium gas that powers his ship. One night he meets a dying balloonist who speaks of beautiful creatures drifting through the skies. It is only after Matt meets the balloonist’s granddaughter that he realizes that the man’s ravings may, in fact, have been true, and that the creatures are completely real and utterly mysterious.
In a swashbuckling adventure reminiscent of Jules Verne and Robert Louis Stevenson, Kenneth Oppel, author of the best-selling Silverwing trilogy, creates an imagined world in which the air is populated by transcontinental voyagers, pirates, and beings never before dreamed of by the humans who sail the skies.
Thoughts
I was already thinking of how I would describe this book when I read the blurb.
They stole my word: swashbuckling.
This is fantasy for sure, but so strange because it mixes alternate history and also great technology and invention. This is fantasy and also alternate history (airplanes haven’t been invented, but huge airships like zeppelins and blimps rule the sky). The cool word for this specific genre is steampunk. I know about it, but have never read it before.
Sometimes to get a feel for what something is I do a Google image search. Check out these images for steampunk and you’ll get an idea.
Steampunk mixes old fashioned and modern: Airships with computers. Lots of gears. Old fashions like top hats and dresses. When these things go together, we use the term anachronistic. This is when an advanced technology shows up in an older time and place. (The term chron in a word always refers to time.) Can you spot the anachronism in this commercial?
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WHAT ABOUT YOU?
LET’S RING THE BELL!
Looking for more NEW books to add to your TBR pile? Look at this newsletter filled with new arrivals.
Almost finished. Wow!
Thank you Lily and Trevor!
AUDIO BOOK
Get the popcorn ready.
Now meet the teenage equivalent: ALEX RIDER
{Celebrating the books we’ve read in the past week
The Blurb (from Barnes & Noble)
Ninth grader Will Tuppence is in control.
He plans everything obsessively, from the perfect stargazing night with his crush, Mi-Su, to the regular Saturday-night games of Monopoly with his friends. He’s even planned his entire adulthood: career as an astronomer; mint condition, black 1985 Jaguar XJS/12; two kids. . . .
But everything changes the day Will learns one startling fact: protons—those tiny atomic particles, the building blocks to the building blocks of life—can die. The one thing that was so certain in this world to Will has an expiration date.
And Will’s carefully planned-out life?
Not so certain, either.
Thoughts
I’ve had students read this before and they had a hard time telling me what it was about. A kid? Who likes a girl? And has a friend? And an annoying sister? And something about protons.
Now I know.
The book is about uncertainty. How much are we certain of? How much do we know and understand? At my age (old), there is still plenty I find confusing. When I was Will’s age, I remember finding many things hard to understand or grasp. My parents were weird. My sister was almost six years older than me and living her own life. I didn’t know how to talk to girls.
These are some of the things that Will struggles with, and since he’s a planner who has his life all set, unpredictable things rock him in big ways. His feelings for Mi-Su throw him for a loop. But more than that is realizing that protons, which he thought were indestructible… DIE.
To you or me, that may feel like a So what? To Will, it is a mind-blowing discovery that affects him so much he actually starts keeping track of days from the point he learns this (PD=Proton Death).
This is a quirky book with some deep thoughts. It might be confusing for some readers. But there’s something sweet and fascinating about watching Will question and struggle through his feelings.
What else does he learn? And what happens with Mi-Su?
I won’t tell you, but I know how you could find out.
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WHAT ABOUT YOU?
AUDIO BOOK
Few things can draw a reader to a new book like a book trailer can.
Get the popcorn ready.
Catrina and her family are moving to the coast of Northern California because her little sister, Maya, is sick. Cat isn’t happy about leaving her friends for Bahía de la Luna, but Maya has cystic fibrosis and will benefit from the cool, salty air that blows in from the sea. As the girls explore their new home, a neighbor lets them in on a secret: There are ghosts in Bahía de la Luna. Maya is determined to meet one, but Cat wants nothing to do with them. As the time of year when ghosts reunite with their loved ones approaches, Cat must figure out how to put aside her fears for her sister’s sake — and her own.
Raina Telgemeier has masterfully created a moving and insightful story about the power of family and friendship, and how it gives us the courage to do what we never thought possible.
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Check out Raina’s site and see what she’s up to:
tap here to jump to site
If you’re a Raina fan, as many are, you can join her 10.6K followers on Instagram.
Here is a sampling of her posts at https://www.instagram.com/goraina/.
{Celebrating the books we’ve read in the past week
WHAT ABOUT YOU?
AUDIO BOOK
My buddy Eric sent me a SIGNED COPY!!!
{Eat the Book} 