It is the life Matt's always wanted; convinced he's lighter than air, he imagines himself as buoyant as the hydrium gas that powers his ship. One night he meets a dying balloonist who speaks of beautiful creatures drifting through the skies. It is only after Matt meets the balloonist's granddaughter that he realizes that the man's ravings may, in fact, have been true, and that the creatures are completely real and utterly mysterious.In a swashbuckling adventure reminiscent of Jules Verne and Robert Louis Stevenson, Kenneth Oppel, author of the best-selling Silverwing trilogy, creates an imagined world in which the air is populated by transcontinental voyagers, pirates, and beings never before dreamed of by the humans who sail the skies.

    He lives in Sandhill Flats with his mum and dad and his brother Steve – and his stinky dog Max. Davey and his schoolmates – even Max – are MAD for cricket. All they want to do is play … but there’s always something getting in their way.In this first book in the series, Davey and his friends have a big game coming up against Shimmer Bay, their arch rivals in the local comp. They need to practise, and spend all their free time at school – in the morning and at lunchtime – making sure they’ll be ready.But disaster strikes. Davey and his friends find out their new teacher is Mr Mudge, a strict grump who HATES cricket even more than he hates Year 6 boys, and thanks to bully Mo Clouter, they find themselves on detention. Which means no cricket.The boys are desperate. They’re going to need to pull something special out of the bag to win against Shimmer Bay. Davey’s mates have some ideas, one that could really get them into trouble, but it means getting around Mo, who seems to be everywhere they turn.But Davey has an idea that he thinks may just work … he just needs to practise. Will he pull it off in time for the game against Shimmer Bay?