Leviathan

For the last 6 months, almost every time I would talk to my mom on the phone (which is a few times a week) she would ask me if I'd read Scott Westerfeld's steampunk adventure yet.  My answer was always no...until last week.  With the coming of my YARP list reading season looming, I've been furiously trying to read everything I can that I want to read, and Leviathan was one of those titles.

Loved it.  Westerfeld has created one of those societies that is based in historical fact and tweaks it to make it more interesting for young people.  Westerfeld's world is dominated by the Clankers - those who create super-machines and Darwinists - those who weave the DNA of living creatures together to create new ones.  Set during the first weeks of what would become World War I, the Clankers (Germany, Austria-Hungary, and the Ottoman Empire) become the aggressors toward the Darwinists (Britain, France, Italy, and Russia)

Alek must flee for his life to Switzerland and hide until the end of the war.  Deryn Sharp also has something to hide - she's disguised as a boy to make it into the British Royal Air Force.  These two, Clanker and Darwinist, are thrown together in an unlikely alliance on the great Darwinist "fabricated" airship Leviathan, and while fighting to stay alive, must keep their secrets. 

The book has been out since 2009, but the sequel Behemoth is due out next month, so I think I read it at the right time because now I don't have to wait very long for the next one!