skip navigation links

Readers > Talk it Up! > Discussion guides > Airborn

Airborn by Kenneth Oppel

Summary

Matt dreams of flying an airship one day, but for now he's a penniless cabin boy. His life changes when he meets a rich, headstrong girl intent on discovering a mysterious flying mammal.

Booktalk

What would the world have been like without airplanes? What if airships – enormous “hydrium” filled blimps – had filled the skies instead, silently floating wealthy passengers from America to Paris, London, and Sydney? Matt Cruse is a cabin boy on the Aurora, a luxury airship that travels from America to Australia. During a routine night shift in the crow’s nest, Matt spots a hot air balloon drifting near the Aurora. As they draw closer, Matt sees the balloon pilot sprawled on the gondola floor. He volunteers for a daring rescue attempt. He succeeds – barely – and that afternoon he visits the pilot in the infirmary. The pilot wakes, sees Matt, and asks in gasping breaths, “Did you see them? Beautiful creatures.” Before Matt can learn what the man’s talking about, he starts coughing violently and Matt has to leave the room. That afternoon, the pilot dies. But what did he see? A new species of animal? It’s an interesting question, but one that Matt doesn’t have time for. He wants to become a sailmaker like his father, and sailmakers have real problems to worry about – like weather and priates. It’s only after Matt meets the balloonist’s pretty granddaughter, Kate, and reads the balloonist’s journal, that Matt starts to wonder if the creatures could be real. But he doesn’t have much time for wondering . . . not long after he meets Kate, the Aurora is attacked by pirates and forced to crash-land on a deserted island.

355 pages, 6th grade and up

Discussion questions

Warning! Some of the questions contain key elements of the plot. Do not read if you don't want to know what happens!

  1. In what ways is Matt’s world similar to and different from our world? Does the book feel modern or old-fashioned? Why?
  2. Do Captain Rideau and the staff of the Aurora respect and like Matt at the beginning of the book? How do their opinions change over time?
  3. Matt believes that if he had money, he could achieve his dream to be an airship captain. Does having money allow Kate and Bruce to fulfill their dreams?
  4. Should the captain have allowed the pirates to board the Aurora and search the passengers’ rooms? What might have happened if he had refused?
  5. What was the most unique part of the book for you?
  6. Matt, Kate and Miss Simpkins have very different reactions to being shipwrecked on a deserted island. How would you have reacted?
  7. If you were Matt, would you have returned to the jungle with Kate to photograph and collect the skeleton?
  8. Kate is very enthusiastic about everything she does. How does that lead to trouble? Is enthusiasm a good trait or a bad trait?
  9. When Matt gives Chef Vlad the sleeping drug, he wonders if the chef is “completely cuckoo after all.” What do you think? What makes Chef Vlad a memorable character?
  10. Why does Matt compare himself to a shark? What will happen if he stops moving?
  11. What is Matt’s first thought when he sees Szpirglas fall? Why?

If you liked this book, try

Snacks: Try croissants, hot chocolate and of course, - mangoes!

Created in part with funds granted by the Oregon State Library under the Library Services and Technology Act, administered by the Oregon State Library. Send feedback to Katie O'Dell, Reading Promotions Coordinator