"Airborn" Series by Kenneth Oppel - Steampunk-flavored Odyssey on Audio

Set among Victorian manners, morals and mode, the adventure story Airborn takes flight in an 'almost Earth' world where airships (that's blimps and zeppelins for the dirigible-impaired) are the rulers of sky, trekking between continents. But the vast skies still hold many secrets, waiting to be revealed.

The short hand note on Airborn: As cabin boy on the airship Aurora, Matt Cruse has his sights set on a career in the sky and a life above the clouds. But the dangerous rescue of a mysterious balloonist leads to the discovery of a previously unknown predator in the higher altitudes and a fateful encounter with a famously ruthless sky pirate that endangers everyone aboard the Aurora. Each new development threatens to change Matt's life...or end it.

Full Cast Audio is the real corner-turner on this one. Oppel's story is fantastic, but FCA's unabridged treatment, score and perfectly cast voice actors lift this one right off the page and aloft to new heights for recorded books. I highly recommend this audio read for boys and young men whose reading choices are sometimes outnumbered in the teen section by more feminine pop reads. Absolutely, one of my all-time favorites, I've posted the cover of the Airborn first-edition rather than the audio cover simply because it best captures the spirit of the book. A thrilling non-stop tale that combines the very best elements of sky pirate adventure, Victorian mystery, steampunk-ish sci-fi, Airborn is an seriously compelling listen for teens and adults.

Paige's "Page" wins 2009 PPA Gold Award

While I've won writing and editing awards in the past, I'm certainly aware that the "value" of an award, the merit of it, can vary greatly. When my first-rights editor submitted "A Page in a Book" to the Parenting Publications of America (PPA) awards competition for the first time in 2006, I wasn't even aware of its entry until I got a call from the annual conference in Philadelphia. I remember my editor's husband phoning me late at night and saying "I have somthing to tell you...Are you sitting down?". My knees turned to water as I imagined him telling me that my friend had been suddenly stricken with some terrible illness, or worse...was my 'late' friend. Why else should I be sitting down? I sat.

When he revealed I had won the PPA Gold Award for Reviews, I didn't quite know what to say. I had no idea what the PPA was, what a Gold Award entailed or how my column had ended up 'in the running'. He seemed to think the Gold Award was really a big deal, though. What I said was "Wow! That's great!" What I wanted to say was "Thank God! I thought Carol was dead!"

I learned later that the Parenting Publications of America is a professional organization for the nation's best parenting and family magazines. And I also learned that the awards competition between these magazines at the PPA annual conference is a serious. The categories are judged by respected authorities within the field and the criteria is pretty exacting. Since discovering that the PPA award isn't some generic pat-on-the-back, I distinctly appreciate the honor.

I've just learned that "A Page in a Book"(as published in Birmingham Parent magazine) received its third Gold Award for Reviews at the 2009 PPA convention in New Orleans. I'm very excited about the news and so pleased that APB has been recognized and honored again. This development has definitely inspired me to be more diligent about presenting more reviews through my blog this year. If I'm going to meet my mission of helping young readers, teens and their families find the best titles to try on, I must work harder to present the latest great reads (and audio) into this venue.

Consider me renewed and recommitted - and grateful for the opportunity...