The Floating Islands

by Rachel Neumeier

When Trei loses his family in a tragic disaster, he must search out distant relatives in a new land. The Floating Islands are unlike anything Trei has ever seen: stunning, majestic, and graced with kajurai, men who soar the skies with wings.

Trei is instantly sky-mad, and desperate to be a kajurai himself.  The only one who fully understands his passion is Araene, his newfound cousin.  Prickly, sarcastic, and gifted, Araene has a secret of her own . . . a dream a girl cannot attain.

(Summary retrieved from goodreads.com)

I stumbled upon this book by accident and was glad I did. It was perfect for me as a summer read, but it was not light and fluffy. The story was pretty intense. It took me a few pages to sort out who was who, but after that it was easy to get lost in a very interesting take of a new world Neumeier created.