Cloud panther

Wolkenpanther (original title: Airborn ) is a youth novel by the Canadian writer Kenneth Oppel . The story is told by Matt, who meets the girl Kate on a trip with the airship Aurora, has to fight pirates and discovers the mysterious cloud panther.

Wolkenpanther was published on February 5, 2004 by the Canadian publisher HarperCollins in English and comprises 321 pages. The German translation was published by Beltz & Gelberg on March 24, 2005 and comprises 552 pages. Anja Hansen-Schmidt translated the book into German. The book has been published in France , Japan , Russia and Portugal , among others . It is the twenty-first book by Kenneth Oppel.

Cloud panthers can be assigned to various literary genres. In addition to being classified as a youth novel, it can be attributed to the genre steampunk and fantasy .

Wolkenpanther has received the Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz Children's Book Award (2005) and the Red Maple Award (2005), among others.

There are two follow-up volumes to the book: Cloud Pirates and Star Fighters .

content

Matt Cruse is a cabin boy on the luxury liner Zeppelin Aurora. On the way to Sydney, the zeppelin is attacked by air pirates and almost destroyed. The airship crashes and can barely land on an unknown South Sea island. Matt and Kate, who were passengers on the ship, survive and start looking for unknown flying creatures, the "cloud panthers", which Kate's grandfather allegedly discovered shortly before his death. But then Matt and Kate are in great danger when it turns out that the island is the secret base of the air pirates.

Chapter 1 - Ship's Eye

The airship Aurora is on its way to Sydney. Matt Cruse is on guard in the crow's nest when he notices a hot air balloon floating in the air not far from the aurora. The captain tries to spark the balloon, but when nobody answers, he decides to get the balloon into the airship. In a dangerous maneuver, for which Matt volunteers, the crew manages to save the balloon. In the basket of the balloon they find the unconscious pilot. A few hours later, Matt visits the pilot in the infirmary. The doctor tells him that things are not going well. When Matt is sitting on the bedside, the pilot wakes up. He asks Matt if he saw them and adds that they are beautiful. Matt doesn't know what the man is talking about, but before he can find out more, the pilot dies.

Chapter 2 - Airship up!

A year later, the Aurora makes its way to Sydney again. It runs out in Löwentorstadt, Matt's home. Matt is the cabin steward on the Aurora and is just about to serve breakfast to the passengers after departure when an ornithopter flies dangerously close to the airship outside . Curious to see what's going on, Matt heads to the navigating bridge. There the captain is already in contact with the pilot of the ornithopter and learns from him that he has two passengers with him who missed the departure of the Aurora. The ornithopter can be brought on board the airship and the girl Kate de Vries and her chaperone Marjorie Simpkins get out. Matt greets the new passengers aboard the Aurora and informs Kate that there will be a guided tour later that morning.

Chapter 3 - Kate

As Matt is preparing breakfast for the new passengers, he is called into the captain's cabin. Rumors have spread that one of the Aurora's sailmakers is planning to leave the ship, and Matt is hoping the captain will offer him the position. But when he sees the captain's face, Matt knows there is bad news. Captain Walken explains that he wanted to hire Matt as a sailmaker, but that he is forced to hire Bruce Lunardi instead. Bruce is the son of Otto Lunardi, an entrepreneur who owns a large fleet of airships, including the Aurora. Captain Walken apologizes to Matt, who quickly leaves the cabin so as not to show how sad he is.

It's time for the ship's command, but Kate de Vries is the only passenger willing to take the tour. Matt leads her through the Aurora, but his mind is still on the conversation with Captain Walken. Kate is very interested in the airship and listens carefully, and soon she and Matt have a lively conversation. When the tour ends, Kate suddenly asks about the balloonist Matt and the crew rescued a year earlier, and it turns out he was Kate's grandfather. Matt tells Kate about her grandfather's last words and asks her if she knows what he was talking about. She admits she doesn't know, but that she's on board to find out exactly that.

Chapter 4 - Hot Chocolate for Two

Matt meets Bruce Lunardi over dinner. Although he's actually mad at Lunardi for getting the job Matt was supposed to do, Matt has to admit that Lunardi is funny and kind. To avoid the situation, Matt goes to work early, where he meets Kate and Miss Simpkins again. Kate has a quick chat with Matt and gives him her grandfather's notebook. She tells Matt to read it and then contact her.

Chapter 5 - The Petrel Log

Matt returns to his cabin and immediately starts reading the notebook. Benjamin Molloy, Kate's grandfather, was planning to sail around the earth in his hot air balloon. He flew from Cape Town and across the Indian Ocean to Australia. From there he traveled further northeast. Matt reaches the spot in the notebook Kate has marked. Molloy reports for the first time about the unknown beings and about the island he discovered. He describes the unknown beings as large, winged mammals that apparently only live in the air and never have to land. He observed a whole herd for several days. One day he can watch as several females of the herd give birth in the air. In one of the babies, however, the wings do not open and so it falls uncontrollably through the air until it disappears between the trees on the island. Molloy adds many sketches of the creatures and the island to his observations. After that, Molloy's handwriting becomes more and more indistinct and blurred, as if he was caught in a heavy storm. The last entry in the notebook is that Molloy has spotted an airship in the distance and is about to try to send an emergency call.

Matt sleeps badly. The next morning he can return the notebook to Kate and have a brief chat with her, but she quickly realizes that Matt is not convinced that her grandfather's notes are true. She explains that there is still a lot of unexplored airspace and that a lot is possible. Matt promises to find out at what point on her journey she'll be closest to the coordinates Benjamin Molloy noted for the island.

Chapter 6 - Szpirglas

Before going to work, Matt checks the aurora's coordinates and finds out that they will be closest to the island the next morning. At dinner he secretly sends Kate a note with the information. Matt has a shift in the aurora's lookout and is watching the starry sky when suddenly something moves towards him. Matt's imagination goes crazy, but then it turns out it was just an albatross. Matt climbs on the outside of the aurora to drive the bird away when he sees an airship heading right for them. He notifies the captain and he tries to evade, but it quickly becomes clear that the other airship is a pirate. The pirates manage to board the Aurora and round up the crew and passengers while taking away everything valuable. Captain Walken lets the pirates go their own way to protect the crew and passengers, especially after he sees that the pirate leader is Vikram Szpirglas, who is known for his ruthlessness. But then the radio officer Mr. Featherstone tries secretly to make an emergency call and Szpirglas shoots him. The pirates leave the airship, but when they return to their own airship, they are unexpectedly caught in a storm. The pirate ship is being driven against the aurora and the propellers tear large holes in its hull.

Chapter 7 - Descent

The Aurora is badly damaged and all sailmakers immediately go to work to mend the holes in the outer hull of the airship. Since all help is needed, Matt also lends a hand and works very close to Bruce Lunardi. Everyone works as fast as they can, but the airship keeps sinking. The captain finally summons the crew and announces that they have to evacuate the ship before he has to make an emergency landing in the water. Suddenly Matt sees a mountain top. An island appears right in front of them and the captain manages to land the Aurora safely on the beach.

Chapter 8 - The Island

While the crew works to repair the airship, the passengers are provided with breakfast on the beach. Matt is sent to bed, but he cannot sleep and so he sets off with his friend Baz and Bruce Lunardi to find drinking water on the island. On the beach they meet Kate, who has already started exploring the island on her own and has also found a stream. They go back to the ship to share the news with the captain, and Kate tells Matt that she suspects they may have landed on the very same island their grandfather said in his notebook. Matt is skeptical, but when he sees the drawing of the island in his notebook, he has to admit that Kate is right.

Chapter 9 - Bones

As soon as Matt admitted that Kate's guess was correct, Kate runs into the woods. Matt sees no other option but to follow her. All Kate can think of are the mysterious creatures her grandfather described. She desperately wants to find the skeleton of the being that, according to her grandfather's observation, fell from the sky onto the island. Matt knows that he's needed on the Aurora and wants to return, but when he realizes that Kate doesn't seem to have any orientation, he is afraid to leave her alone. You walk through the forest for a while, but you can't see anything. Then they are followed by a snake and just manage to get to safety in a tree. There they surprisingly find a skeleton. It's still perfectly intact and Matt at first thinks it's a panther's skeleton. But then he notices that the being had wings, and it is clear that it is the creature Benjamin Molloy was watching. Kate desperately wants to return and take the skeleton with her, and after Matt assures her that he can find the place in the forest, they go back to the ship together.

Chapter 10 - Airworthy

Kate and Matt had hoped they could get back to the ship unnoticed, but when they arrive at the beach they see Kate chaperone, Miss Simpkins, yelling at the captain. As a cabin steward, Matt is not allowed to interact with the passengers and for the first time in his life he has been late for his duty. Kate tries to resolve the situation and apologizes to Matt for getting him into trouble. The captain tells Matt that there is still enough gas in the cells to make the Aurora take off again. The crew set about unloading the airship and getting rid of as much ballast as possible so that the ship is lighter and easier to fly. When they are done, they untie the lines and see with great relief that the Aurora rises into the air. It is tied again so that the final repair work can be done.

At dinner, Kate stays longer than the other guests to talk to Matt. She reminds him that he promised her to go back to the forest to get the skeleton. They arrange to meet at dawn so that Matt can be back on time for his lunch shift.

Chapter 11 - Fallen from Heaven

Matt and Kate return to the skeleton. Kate takes photos and numbers the bones of the skeleton before Matt carefully puts them in a bag. They talk a lot while they work and Matt tells Kate about his dream of one day being the captain of the Aurora. He also tells her how difficult it is for him as he cannot afford to attend aviation academy. Kate, who comes from a wealthy family, sympathizes with Matt, but doesn't fully understand the problem. Kate tells Matt in return that she wants to exhibit the creature's skeleton, forcing her parents to do research and let her go to university. Because she is a girl, her parents expect her to look pretty and be polite, and not be interested in research. When they are almost done, they suddenly hear a scream from the forest and see something land on the tree next to them. The creature has fur the color of clouds and jumps from tree to tree. Kate and Matt stare at what appears to be half panther, half bird. One of its wings seems to be deformed, which is why it can no longer fly. When he notices Kate and Matt, he flees and the two run after him until they come to a cliff. Kate suspects that the creature is the same one her grandfather saw it fall from the sky after it was born. Since they cannot follow it any further, they make their way back to the ship when suddenly a storm breaks over them.

Chapter 12 - Shipwrecked

Kate and Matt fight their way through the forest, but the storm gets so strong that they seek shelter in a cave. The cave is dry and Matt perceives a strong mango smell that he suspects may have come from the trees outside the cave. While they wait, Matt begins to explain to Kate why he feels so uncomfortable on land and that the death of his father on land always haunts him. When the storm subsided, the two of them covered the last stretch to the airship. When they get there, Matt is dejected to see that the Aurora is again half slumped on the beach and a large hole gapes on the side. Captain Walken announces to the crew that the Aurora will no longer be able to fly in this condition. Lunardi then suggests making a hot air balloon out of the unusable airship so that a person can fly in it to get help. The thought of his home being destroyed makes Matt desperate. When he watches how men from the team are about to cut a part of the aurora, he suddenly has an idea. He tells the captain about the cave where he waited with Kate and that, because of the mango smell, he suspects hydrium, the gas with which the airship is filled.

Chapter 13 - Hydrium

There is actually hydrium in the cave. With the help of rubber hoses that were transported on board the Aurora, the team succeeds in channeling the gas into the airship. Kate's chaperone finds the bones in Kate's pocket and confronts Matt in front of the captain. Matt manages to give satisfactory answers without revealing the secret about the creature. Kate asks to be allowed to return to the forest, but the captain insists that the crew and guests stay with the ship. Miss Simpkins locks Kate up in her room. Kate expects Matt to free her, but Matt wants to avoid further trouble and goes about his business.

Chapter 14 - The Nest

The airship fills with the hydrium overnight and hovers over the ground again in the morning. When Matt wakes up, he is told that Kate is missing, and the captain tells him and Lunardi to find Kate. They make their way to the steep slope where Matt thinks Kate is. In fact, they find Kate there, but she refuses to go back to the ship until she snaps a picture of the creature. She has discovered the nest nearby, and while waiting for the creature to return, Matt and Kate agree on the name "Cloud Panther" for the creature. The cloud panther actually shows up, but it disappears into its nest before Kate can photograph it. Matt insists on returning to the ship, but Kate tries to lure the cloud panther out of its nest with a fish that she stole from the kitchen that morning.

Chapter 15 - The Cloud Panther

Bruce takes the fish and lays it in a clearing, which also smells like fish himself. He hides with Matt and Kate and they wait together. The cloud panther actually appears and for the first time you can see it in all its beauty. When he starts to eat the fish, however, Kate suddenly realizes that it is a wild predator, something Matt had warned her about earlier. Kate desperately wants a photo of the cloud panther, but the camera shutter draws his attention to her. Bruce runs away in panic, but the cloud panther is attracted by the fishy smell that clings to Bruce and he pounces on him wildly. Matt tries to scare the cloud panther and Bruce manages to run away. But now the cloud panther is after Kate and Matt, who can only shake him off when they come to the edge of the forest and into an open field. The cloud panther remains behind because it cannot move quickly away from the trees.

Chapter 16 - Rescue

When they get into the open field, they see a small airship not far from them. Matt immediately realizes that it is a pirate ship, but Kate is not that fast and attracts the pirates' attention. Matt quickly comes up with a plan, hoping that Kate doesn't accidentally reveal her and that the pirates won't recognize her from the Aurora. You will meet some of the pirates who were also present in the raid, and finally Szpirglas. They tell them that they were shipwrecked in a small airship and that they are the only survivors. Matt hopes that the pirates will do the story for them and that it will not occur to them to look for the ship and come across the Aurora.

Szpirglas also plays something for the two of them and pretends to be Captain Anglesea of ​​the Air Guard. He invites them to the pirates' secret village and offers them food and drink. In the house they are led into, Matt and Kate are shocked to find that the head of a cloud panther is hanging on the wall. Szpirglas continues to question Matt, but Matt does not deviate from his story and tells a plausible story. They accept food and drink, but Matt realizes too late that the pirates put alcohol in their juice and they are both drunk. Kate is questioned about her family, and Matt fears the pirates will try to extort ransom for her. He plans to flee the village and back to the Aurora at night when the pirates are asleep with Kate, but their plan is made more difficult when they are housed in separate rooms.

Chapter 17 - The Pit

Matt's escape is made more difficult by the fact that he is placed in a room right next to Szpirglas. He still manages to escape unnoticed and runs to the agreed meeting point, but Kate is not there. He decides to look for the hut where Kate is housed and finds that she is soundly asleep. He wakes her up and is about to flee with her when they are caught by the pirates. Szpirglas had suspected something the whole time and is now sure that the two are from the Aurora. When the two of them refuse to reveal where the aurora is, Szpirglas has it thrown into a pit filled with hydrium. Hydrium is not poisonous, but it displaces all oxygen, so Matt and Kate can barely breathe in the pit. Again Matt manages to save her from the dicey situation by creating a kind of balloon out of her clothing, which carries her out of the pit with the help of the hydrium. Immediately they make their way to the Aurora. On the way they take a short break and Matt dares to kiss Kate. Near the airship, a pirate comes towards them in the forest, from whom they can barely hide. You now know that the pirates discovered the aurora. When they get to the edge of the forest, Matt sees that the Aurora has enough hydrium to fly again. Then he discovers Szpirglas and his men on the navigation bridge.

Chapter 18 - Pirates on Board

At the edge of the forest, they meet Bruce, who has made it there, but whose leg was badly wounded by the cloud panther and is bleeding profusely. He tells them that about half a dozen pirates boarded the ship and he heard gunshots. The three of them know they only have a limited amount of time before the other pirates reach the ship, and Kate naively suggests killing the pirates all with frying pans, wrenches, or something similar. Matt tells her it won't be that easy. You make it to the ship unnoticed and climb in via the tail fin. At first they hide at the auxiliary steering position, from where the ship can also be steered. Matt, who knows the ship inside and out, first sneaks to his cabin to get his keys. Then he crawls through the air shaft and overhears the pirates. He learns that there are eight pirates on board and that the others will be there in less than three hours. He hears that Szpirglas is planning to cannibalize the Aurora and sink the rest. The crew and passengers are supposed to be killed so that they cannot tell anyone about the pirate base. Matt sneaks into the infirmary, where he gets painkillers for Bruce and pocketed a bottle of sleeping pills. He delivers this to the ship's cook, who secretly mixes the remedy in the fish soup for the pirates.

Chapter 19 - In the air

Matt and Kate begin cutting the lines holding the Aurora ashore. On their way back to the auxiliary steering position, they hear movement and are shocked to notice that the cloud panther is on board the airship. They make it back to Bruce unscathed and switch the ship's controls from the navigating bridge to the auxiliary steering position. Matt releases the last tether of the ship and together they start the engines. When the ship takes off, they leave the room and are about to hide when they are discovered by two pirates. Matt lures the pirates precisely through the landing doors, which he then opens so that the pirates plunge into the depths.

Matt feels the Aurora's course change and realizes that Szpirglas is steering the ship back to the island. Together with Kate and Bruce he tries to cut off the gasoline supply to the engines to prevent Szpirglas' plans. After Matt and Kate manage to paralyze an engine and get rid of a pirate, Kate is captured by the pirate Crumlin.

Chapter 20 - Born to Fly

Fortunately for Matt and Kate, the effects of the sleeping pill are already noticeable on Crumlin. When the cloud panther suddenly appears, Crumlin tries to shoot him, but he can no longer aim properly and instead shoots one of the other pirates. Matt and Kate manage to escape, while Crumlin is attacked and killed by the cloud panther. They run to the other engine, hoping Bruce could turn it off, but instead find Bruce dead on the floor. He was shot in the head by one of the pirates. Matt tells Kate to hide. He himself tries to stop Szpirglas, who tries to restart the failed motor. Szpirglas shoots at Matt, but does not hit. He follows Matt to the crow's nest and onto the outer surface of the Aurora. There Matt suddenly finds himself trapped between Szpirglas on one side and the cloud panther on the other. Szpirglas pushes Matt down, but Matt manages to catch and hold on to the elevator. Looking up, he can observe how the cloud panther pushes itself off the roof of the aurora and spreads its wings. At first it falls uncontrollably, but then it gains control and begins to fly properly. Matt watches the spectacle with fascination and forgets his fear. Meanwhile, Szpirglas has fought his way to Matt and tried to throw him down again by stepping on his hand. They fight a bitter battle when the cloud panther, accompanied by his whole herd, flies past them. An animal breaks away from the herd and attacks Szpirglas. When he loses his footing and falls from the ship, he is attacked by the whole herd, tearing the pieces out of him and killing him.

Matt sees that the aurora is heading far too low towards the island's mountain. Desiring to save his home, he gathers all his strength and makes it to the navigating bridge. In his head he hears instructions from the captain and manages to get the Aurora up on a higher course. Suddenly the captain is actually behind Matt. He allows him to continue flying the ship and says that Matt was truly born to fly.

Chapter 21 - At anchor

The Cloud Panther exhibit is filled with people, and it takes Matte a while to get through to Kate. They go out on the terrace and Kate asks Matt how he likes Paris. Matt is now studying at the Airship Academy. After the Aurora made it back to Sydney, he was able to report to the police from the pirate base, for which he received a reward. This enables him to pay for the academy and at the same time continue to support his mother and sisters.

Matt and Kate reminisce about their adventure, and Kate says she's returning to the island soon for an exploration trip. She also announces that her parents have finally allowed her to go to university, and Matt recommends that she move to Paris.

characters

main characters

Matt Cruse

Matt Cruse is fifteen years old and a cabin steward on the airship Aurora. His father used to work as a sailmaker on the Aurora, but then had a fatal accident three years ago when the airship got caught in a storm. After his father passed away, Matt started working at the age of twelve to financially support his mother and two sisters Sylvia and Isabel, who still live in his home town of Löwentorstadt. Matt misses his father very much. He loves to fly with the airship because there he feels connected to his father, can dream and feels free. When he was six years old, his father took him on the Aurora for the first time. Even then, Matt knew that he wanted to become the captain of an airship one day. The aurora is his home for Matt. He has nothing but a compass that his father gave him for his tenth birthday and eight books that belonged to his father at the time. The ship's crew has become his family over time. “I had never brought myself to tell my mother how comforting I was to be on my father's old airship. Everyone here had known my father and they were all very nice to me, especially Captain Walken. Baz immediately took me under his wing, he was like an older brother to me. I felt like I found a new family in the air. My father also always seemed to be close by and often visited me in my dreams. "(P. 280)

Sometimes Matt feels guilty about being home so little, but every time he feels very uncomfortable on land. When Matt is at his mother's house, he mourns a lot for his father and the house feels like a prison to him. On land he also has the feeling of being heavy and unable to move, which changes suddenly when Matt steps on a flight ship.

Matt feels better in the air than on land, he can sleep better there and the air feels like the most natural place for him. People often say that Matt is "lighter than air" because he moves more easily than anyone on board the Aurora. Matt attributes this, among other things, to the fact that he was born in the air. His parents traveled from Europe to Löwentorstadt on an air freighter during the great immigration. Matt was supposed to be born a month later, but then he was born on the airship.

The aurora means everything to Matt. He would do anything for her and suffer greatly when she is in bad shape after the emergency landing on island. When Matt learns that he cannot become the new sailmaker on the Aurora, Bruce Lunardi suggests that Matt move to another ship, but Matt says he will never do that.

“I had everything in this ship, all the happy moments I had ever had and all my hopes. My sense of belonging was inextricably linked with the ship beneath my feet. ”(Pp. 522–523)

After Matt and Kate have successfully fought the pirates and were able to inform the responsible authorities about the secret base of the pirates, Matt receives a large sum of money as a reward and can finally afford to go to the aviation academy in Paris to receive the training that he needs to become a sailmaker. For him, a dream comes true and at the same time it breaks his heart to leave the aurora.

To Matt's delight, Kate de Vries also moves to study in Paris, with whom he fell in love on the airship. For you and your goals, he daringly risks his job and his good relationship with the captain.

Kate de Vries

Kate de Vries comes as a passenger on the Aurora. Matt gets to know her as an exceptionally inquisitive and curious person. Kate reads a lot and wants to do research and adventure. Her grandfather Benjamin Molloy sailed around the earth in a hot air balloon and discovered a new species of animal before he died. Kate has his notes with her and aims to continue her grandfather's research.

Kate comes from a wealthy family who expect her to be polite, dress smartly and fulfill her role as a woman. This means that it is not right for her to study at university, even if Kate wishes to do so.

Kate is about Matt's age, no more than fifteen, and has long, red-brown hair. She is stubborn, strong and is hardly afraid of anything. She loves adventure and wants to study archeozoology at university one day. She is very attentive and interested, and good at listening.

At the same time, Kate is very naive. Coming from a wealthy family, she can't imagine why Matt should go to aviation academy and become a captain. Although she sympathizes with poorer people like Matt, she doesn't know what poverty or hunger mean. She safely puts Matt in situations that could cost him the job without realizing the existential importance of his work for him. Her naivety is also shown when Kate wants to take a picture of the cloud panther and enormously underestimates the potential danger. “Kate made an astonished face. "Dangerous? Don't you remember how he ran away from us? ”“ He's a wild animal. ”“ He's as gentle as a kitten, can't you see that? He's very shy. ”(P. 374) Matt warns her about the cloud panther, but Kate underestimates the situation. Shortly thereafter, Bruce Lunardi is attacked by the cloud panther and seriously injured. When Kate and Matt are trapped in the pirate village, Matt is upset about Kate. "How typical of her to think that her daring plan would work." (P. 420) Kate is sometimes very selfish when trying to get her way and having set a goal without thinking about the consequences their actions for others. So she gets Matt into trouble by going it alone and prevents the planned departure of the Aurora from the island. It is very important for Kate to achieve research success on the island as she sees it as her only chance to force her parents to let her go to university. In the end, by discovering the cloud panther, she succeeded in the scientific community and was able to study in Paris.

Kate is basically a very open person who usually says straight out what she thinks. She is good at acting and has a talent for making people understand what her opinion is or what she thinks of something.

Minor characters

Baz Hilcock

Baz is 18 years old and comes from Australia. On the Aurora, he shares a cabin with Matt. They are very good friends, and Baz is sort of a big brother to Matt. Baz is always in a good mood and always manages to cheer Matt up with his style. Back in Australia, he asks his girlfriend Teresa if she wants to marry him, and when she says yes, he makes Matt his best man.

Bruce Lunardi

Bruce Lunardi is the son of the well-known entrepreneur Otto Lunardi, who owns the Aurora and forty other airships. Due to the position of his father, Bruce is hired as sailmaker on the Aurora and occupies the position that was actually promised to Matt. Bruce doesn't actually have much interest in the sailmaker's profession, but he made a deal with his father that requires him to work on the Aurora for two years before he can pursue his own goals.

Bruce is 17 or 18 years old, very handsome and has a sense of humor. He has a slight fear of heights and slow reactions. He envies Matt for being able to move around the airship so fearlessly and for the fact that Matt knows exactly what he wants. Bruce is afraid that he has no special talents and that he will never find a job that he is really good at. On the island where the Aurora is stranded, Bruce is attacked by the cloud panther and seriously injured. Nevertheless, he fights bravely with Matt and Kate against the pirates, but is shot by one of the pirates and dies on board the airship.

In the third volume of the book series ( Sternenjäger ) it is mentioned that he was interested in astronomy.

Captain Walken

Captain Walken has been the captain of the Aurora for many years. He already worked with Matt's father and after his death made sure that Matt could work on the Aurora. He sees great potential in Matt and wants to promote him as soon as possible. When he is forced to hire Bruce Lunardi as a sailmaker despite promising Matt the job, he feels dishonest and guilty. He is a polite man who is very respectful of other people. He is extremely popular with the team. He is very honest and courageous and exudes great calm even in dangerous situations. He is nearing sixty, has a well-groomed full beard, calm, friendly eyes, curly gray hair and broad shoulders.

Vikram Szpirglas

Vikram Szpirglas is a worldwide known and feared pirate. There are many gruesome stories around him. He is known to plunder freighters and passenger ships and, if necessary, to kill people in order to earn the necessary respect. He and his gang of pirates raid the Aurora and pillage the passengers' rooms while they are all guarded in one room. Szpirglas explains to those present: “You have to understand, I have nothing but a good name. People know me, they know that I might come aboard their ship and take their valuables with me. You know that I am a pirate. To be a good pirate you have to be respected and feared. So what would become of me if people started to think they could be joking with good old Szpirglas? If you think you can outsmart me, try to catch me? No, there is no way I can allow that. I have to protect my good name, whatever the cost. ”(P. 169) He then finds out that the radio officer Mr. Featherstone has secretly tried to send an emergency call. Before Szpirglas shoots Featherstone, he announces: “I am not being trifled with. I hate to kill, but I will if I am told to. If you don't show me due respect, then you're forcing me to deserve it! ”(P. 170)

Vikram Szpirglas is a handsome man with a high, intelligent forehead, curly hair, big eyes and pale skin. He lives in a village on the island where the aurora runs aground. He does everything to keep the village secret and to protect it, because his four-year-old son Theodore also lives there. Theodore has huge brown eyes, perfectly curved lips, wavy hair and dark eyebrows, and looks a lot like his father. The boy's mother died while giving birth.

Matt is surprised to learn that Szpirglas is an extremely loving father. He brings his son small presents from his raids and tells him many exciting stories. “Szpirglas' face and voice were completely different when he spoke to his son. The sharp, mocking humor he'd displayed aboard the Aurora, and all that threatening, were gone. His eyes were big and innocent like his boy's. ”(P. 411) Szpirglas dies fighting Matt when he slips off the back of the airship. In the band Sternenjäger you also learn that he has another daughter named Nadira. Her mother was a gypsy.

Marjorie Simpkins

Marjorie Simpkins is Kate de Vries' chaperone. She is around thirty and a good-looking woman with sharp features. She usually wears a lot of makeup and dresses very smartly. She is very unfriendly, scolds and complains a lot. At the same time, she enjoys getting attention. She often fakes a headache in order to be looked after and not have to work. She is not very reliable in terms of her duty of supervision, and she and Kate make agreements so that Kate z. B. told her parents nothing about Miss Simpkins' secret lover, but can meet up with Matt instead.

Relationship to reality

Cloud panther takes place in our world, at the time of the airships , around the end of the 19th century and is a typical steampunk novel. Except for a few made-up facts, it agrees with our story. For example, an airship cannot actually carry its own weight or the South Pacific was actually quite unexplored in the past, it could be that there could be undiscovered animal species there. It's also true that a material called goldsmith skin does exist.

The gas hydrium

This gas is an invention of the author. It is safer and more load-bearing than hydrogen or helium . In reality, however, there is no gas that can generate more buoyancy than hydrogen, unless it is considerably hotter.

Hydrium displaces all air, which Matt and Kate are doomed when they are pushed by pirates into a pit, from the bottom of which hydrium escapes. This would not be impossible in the case of strong gas eruptions, but normally such a gas would simply rise quickly and fill the bottom of a pit with the heavier ambient air.

Throughout the island, hydrium escapes from crevices in the rock, with which one can immediately fill an airship, which is very rare. Hydrium usually needs refining first.

The metal alumiron

Just like Hydrium invented by Oppel, a light metal, similar to aluminum , which is used, among other things, for the framework of an airship.

Löwentorstadt

Löwentorstadt is an airship port city in Canada; Matt Cruse's home, nonexistent. Kate's family also has an estate there.

Ornithopters

Ornithopters are aircraft that look similar to small airplanes, but whose wings are constantly flapping up and down. Matt detests them because of their volume and their insect-like appearance, but photographers, for example, rent these devices to take pictures of the large luxury airships. The term ornithopter was already used by Leonardo da Vinci .

Literary genre and style

Airborn can be assigned to various literary genres. In addition to being classified as a youth novel and children's book, it can be attributed to the genre steampunk and fantasy.

Literary criticism

Airborn received an overall positive response from the press. Publishers Weekly finds nothing but praise.

Nominations and Awards

Airborn received various awards. The most important ones include the Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz Children's Book Award (2005), the Red Maple Award (2005) and the Michael L Printz Honor Book Award (2005).

All awards as an overview:

2004	Governor General's Award for Children's Literature
2005	Michael L. Printz Award Honor Book
2005	Red Maple Award
2005	Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz Children's Book Award
2007	Red Cedar Book Award

Audio book

On August 9, 2007, Full Cast Audio published an audio book version of the English version of the book, which was read by David Kelly. On 15. February 2006 at appeared Beltz & Gelberg an audiobook edition of the German version of the book by Marian Funk was read.

Public book presentations

The book was presented as a German premiere in the presence of the writer at the children's and youth program at the 16th Berlin International Literature Festival in September 2016.

Web links

• Reading sample of the original and German versions of the book
• Original language and German language publisher website for the book
• Website of the author of the book

Individual evidence

1. ↑ http://www.harpercollins.ca/
2. ↑ http://www.beltz.de/kinder_jugendbuch.html
3. ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original from June 13, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
4. ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original from June 1, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
5. ↑ http://www.accessola.org/web/Documents/OLA/Forest/Archives/RedMaple-Archive.pdf
6. ↑ http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-06-053180-5
7. ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original from June 1, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
8. ↑ http://www.accessola.org/web/Documents/OLA/Forest/Archives/RedMaple-Archive.pdf
9. ↑ http://www.ala.org/yalsa/booklistsawards/bookawards/printzaward/previouswinners/winners
10. ↑ http://www.ala.org/yalsa/booklistsawards/bookawards/printzaward/previouswinners/winners
11. ↑ https://www.librarything.com/bookaward/Red+Maple+Award
12. ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original from June 1, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
13. ↑ http://www.cln.bc.ca/Kid's_Space/Red_Cedar.htm
14. ↑ http://www.fullcastaudio.com/
15. ↑ https://www.beltz.de/kinder_jugendbuch/produkte/ategorie/6-hc3b6rbc3bccher.html
16. ↑ http://www.literaturfestival.com/kjl