Waiting on Wednesday: Starclimber by Kenneth Oppel

This week's "Waiting on" is...

Starclimber
by Kenneth Oppel
Released February 24th, 2009
Sequel to: Airborn and Skybreaker

Summary from book jacket:

At long last Matt Cruise is at the helm...

Though it's only a summer job piloting a humble aerocrane, he's thrilled to be small part of something big. With every load, he's helping to build the Celestial Tower, Paris's extraordinary gateway to outer space. But Matt's idyllic summer is short-lived. He narrowly survives a deadly attack by the fanatical Babelites, who are opposed to humans reaching the heavens. Worse still, his nights spent stargazing with Kate de Vries must end when she's summoned back to Lion's Gate City by her parents. It's time she began to think of getting married. But then a chance of a lifetime boosts Matt's hopes of being airborne once more. Canada wants to reach space first, and Canadian Minister of Air has asked Kate to join the first expedition as an expert on aerial zoology. There's a place for Matt, too--if he can pass the grueling tests to become one of the world's first astralnauts on board the incredible ship Starclimber.

Why I'm waiting:
This is one of the few series my sister and I both read (we try not to do that often so that we're not completely "the same") because it's good. Not the height of great literature, but Kate is a strong and sassy female heroine, and while Matt is a little too good to be realistic, the series is original and entertaining and easy enough to read that our father also read the first two books and enjoyed them.