Airborn

Airborn by Kenneth Oppel is an awesome read!  It is told from the perspective of Matt Cruse who dreams of being an airship pilot.  Until then, he is working with crew and watching from the crows nest.  It is while working there that he sees a hot air balloon in the sky.  He notifies the captain who then tell Matt to board the hot air balloon to check for life.  He is shocked when he finds an old man laying unconscious on the floor.  Once the man is back on the airship, he wakes up and starts rambling about imaginary creatures in the sky.  Everyone dismisses him as being crazy, however Matt is intrigued.  The man soon dies without being able to tell Matt what he saw out there for certain.  The action does not stop there though.  Once the airship lands, it is taken over by pirates who are killing and willing to kill more.  Matt manages to escape to look for help.  He finds that another girl who was a passenger also managed to escape and together they go into the jungle in hopes of finding help.  When they get into the jungle they stumble upon many creatures that they have never known existed, some of them resembling what the old man described.  Now they are not only in danger of pirates but they are also in danger of these wild animals.  This is book one of the Matt Cruse series and is excellent.  Kenneth Oppel does a great job of being descriptive without boring the readers.  I would recommend anyone to read this book.