Zeina Starborn

Zeina Starborn spends her days dreaming of adventure in the sky and escaping the smog-filled city of Ravenport. So, when she wins the chance to visit the famous Willoughby Whale Hotel—a ginormous structure built on the back of a flying whale—Zeina grabs it. Even clashing with Jackson, spoiled heir to the Willoughby fortune, can't dampen her excitement. But a series of clues makes her question what she's been told about this dazzling world of inventors, explorers and mighty sky whales.

For Zeina and Jackson, life has changed dramatically. Now on the run with the fearsome sky pirates, The Smog Rats, their days are full of adventure. Still, Zeina is excited to be safe for a week or two when she and The Smog Rats attend the infamous Solstice Festival in a grand but secretive palace built by the ice bears. As humans are usually forbidden to attend and celebrate the Gathering - the only gathering of horned sky whales left, which happens only once every 10 years - she and Jackson are honoured. But things aren't quite right.