Skybreaker, by Kenneth Oppel, sequel to Airborn
Matt Cruse is no longer a cabin boy on the Aurora, thanks to a generous reward for information leading to the capture of the sky pirate, Szpirglas, he is now studying at the airship academy in Paris, something he has always longed to do.
During a training flight a sudden updraft sweeps the ship he is on far above what they can handle and at the peak of the flight, before he dramatically saves all their lives he sees a ghastly sight.
It has rips in it's fabric skin and icicles hanging from it's ballast tanks, it is an infamous floating treasureship/graveyard called the Hyperion that has been above the clouds since before Matt was born. And Matt is the only one with the coordinates.
Because of Matt's still impoverished state he is greatly tempted by the masses of gold (among other things) rumoured to be hoarded upon the Hyperion. Together with Kate de Vries, a gypsy girl with a key, and a young manly entrepreneur with a ship called a "skybreaker" they set off to skyberia in search of frozen treasure.
However gold attracts more than penniless heroes and they are followed by pirates yet again, these pirates are better equipped, more ruthless and a lot more nasty.
Altogether this is a good read, not quite as clever as the first but certainly a good story with an entertaining plot.
