The Star Thief

Honorine has spent her life as a servant in the Vidalia household.  It's not a bad life, but one night everything changes when she discovers two brutish sailors burglarizing the house.  That is the night when her entire life changes.

Now she is trapped in the middle of a battle between two factions.  One side is a magical steamship, and the other is a group of embodied constellations called Mordant.  The constellations are like muses in the mortal world inspiring humans.  The pirates want to capture them for their purposes.

Traveling with the Captain Olyphant and the pirates is Francis Vidalia, Honorine's childhood playmate and son of the long missing Lord Vidalia who spent his life studying and chasing Mordant.

Honorine has always been good with mechanical things and building. These skills come in surprisingly handy as she travels with the Mordant on their flying ship that is more like a magical floating island.

Lindsey Becker's debut novel is peopled by a spunky and mechanically minded girl and a new brand of magic that readers will love.  Some of the constellations are pretty one dimensional, but I'm hoping they will be fleshed out in the sequel.