Title: Leviathan
Author: Scott Westerfeld
Illustrator: Keith Thompson
Publisher: Simon Pulse, an imprint of Simon and Schuster
Date of Publication: 2009
Pages: 440
Grade Levels: 6-9
Relevant curricula: English language arts, social studies
Bridge texts: WWI history, other World War literature, texts about Darwin and/or genetic engineering, other steampunk
Aleksandar (Alek) Ferdinand is the prince of Austria-Hungary, on the run after the assassination of his father, a peace-loving archduke, and his mother in Sarajevo. Because Alek’s mother was a commoner, Alek isn’t supposed to inherit anything from his family, especially his grandfather’s throne. Alek’s adversaries aren’t taking any chances and hunt him across Austria. His teacher-protectors have given up everything in order to protect Alek and get him to a secret hideout in Switzerland.
Deryn (a.k.a Dylan) Sharp is a British girl disguising herself as a boy to earn a position as a midshipman on one of his majesty’s airships. She has lost her father in a fiery accident. Deryn earns her spot on an airship, a Leviathan-class ship that gives this novel its name, but worries every day that her crewmates will discover her secret.
Europe is divided and on the brink of war. The year is 1914, but not the 1914 that you know from the history books.
Scott Westerfeld has created a steampunk, alternative WWI history in a world where Darwin discovered DNA (the threads of life) and gene splicing. Europe is divided among Darwinist countries, which employ genetic engineering to create incredible creatures to take place of their machines, and Clanker countries, which reject what they see as godless genetic tinkering in favor of engineering elaborate, diesel-driven machines.
Other elements: a heavy pile of gold bullion, a lady scientist with a mysterious cargo bound for Constantinople, flying jellyfish, talking lizards, walking tanks, a tasmanian tiger, and a lot of clart.
The story is fast-paced and exciting, cutting back and forth between the two main characters until they eventually run into each other on a glacier in Switzerland. The audience is privvy to just enough secrets to make us feel involved in the story, but not so many to ruin the excitement and suspense. I love that we don’t know which adults are trustworthy—if any. And I love the afterword, in which Westerfeld sorts out the real history leading up to WWI from his own inventions.
A great middle-grade to young-adult book and the first in a trilogy, followed by Behemoth, released in October 2010, and Goliath, scheduled for release in the fall of 2011.
FTC disclosure: I received this book in a Twitter contest from Simon & Schuster last summer and I’m passing it on to my ten year old.
Reviewed by Dani Smith
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