Airborn by Kenneth Oppel

In the world Matt Cruse inhabits, planes were never invented, and instead, air travel is booked through massive dirigibles, or blimps. Matt is a young cabin boy aboard The Aurora, a luxury blimp that was also the home and workplace of his late father. While on duty one day, Matt helps recover a balloon, that holds in its basket a sick old man. The man tells Matt wild stories of flying creatures before he lapses into a coma and dies. A year later, Matt encounters the man’s headstrong granddaughter, Kate, who is in possession of his diary. The book clearly states the old man’s belief that he had discovered a new species of flying mammal, which he dubbed “cloud cats.” Kate, with Matt’s help, hopes to somehow get off the Aurora and explore the island that her grandfather identified as the home base of the cats. But before Matt can argue Kate out of this wild scheme, the airship is attacked by pirates, and Matt is forced to decide between the two loves of his life–one old, one new, one massive blimp, one beautiful girl. Enchanting and wonderfully imaginative, this book has the same passionate and adventurous flavor as the movie “Titanic,” except in the air!