Snow Willow Nominee

Skybreaker

By Kenneth Oppel.

HarperCollins, 2005.
ISBN 9780060532291

Currently3.09443099274/5 Stars
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The control car of the giant airship is almost entirely encased in 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 lost craft, now a frozen coffin to a ghostly crew and a vast treasure? At 20,000 feet, aboard a decrepit training ship, Matt is almost unconscious from the high altitude, but of all the oxygen-starved crew, he alone remembers the Hyperion's coordinates. Suddenly it seems that everyone is after those coordinates. Kate de Vries, Matt's rich, young lady friend, has her reasons. But what about the strange gypsy girl and the handsome captain who's going to pilot them back to the Hyperion? In an adventure that will test his courage, his skill and his heart, Matt is about to take off on the ride of his life.

About the Author

Kenneth Oppel is from Toronto, ON

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 Literary Award and the 2005 Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz Award, among many others. Kenneth Oppel, voted Author of the Year in 2006 by the CBA Libris Awards, lives in Toronto with his wife and three children.

Book Reviews

CM Magazine
Quill & Quire

Suggested Activities

Using magazines and drawings, create a collage of the mysterious creatures from the Hyperion.
Research the real use of airships. Begin by checking out the following website: 21st Century Airships.
Create a plot graph. At the bottom of the graph list the main events in the story. Then decide how exciting each event was. Fill in the bar graph by rating each event from 1 - 10, 10 being the most exciting and 1 the least exciting.
Matt's escape from the airship is reminiscent of the mythical Icarus. Find out more about Icarus and create an acrostic using the letters in Icarus.

The 2007 Willow Awards