The Twenty-One Balloons
by William Pene du Bois

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Book Summary Information

• ISBN13: 9780140320978
• Condition: New
• Notes: BRAND NEW FROM PUBLISHER! 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. Tracking provided on most orders. Buy with Confidence! Millions of books sold!

Book Reviews of The Twenty-One Balloons

Book Review: Amazing.
Summary: 5 Stars

By the end of this book, I was convinced for a second that Krakatoa, with its diamond mines and 'Gourmet Government' really existed. And that's pretty sad, considering that I should be too old for that kind of stuff.

THE 21 BALLOONS follows the adventures of Professor William Waterman Sherman as he tries to escape his old life of school days and bad kids. (He was a math teacher at an all-boys school. I pity him.)

He sets out in a balloon, one that has a sort of mini-house as the basket. He spends a few days happily flying around the Pacific ocean, until one day a seagull makes a hole in his balloon. He throws everything overboard, and aims to land on a small island. The island's name? Krakatoa.

He is received into the Krakatoan society, and given a share in the HUGE diamond mines that each of the twenty families on the island own. (By the way- I love the way that the society is described in the book. Very detailed. And the naming system, too... though I don't think that I would like to be called something like 'K-2'.)

The families live in great wealth and comfort, and they have a society totally based on food. Each day of the month, a different family cooks, and they all have equal shares in the mines. But everything isn't perfect...

There's a volcano on the island, one that is REALLY active. It causes the island's earth to continually move up and down in waves... a sort of blessing, and a curse, because it keeps the other people of the world away. Professor Sherman is the first person that had been to their island other than themselves, EVER.

And, of course, while Sherman is on the island, the volcano erupts. Luckily, the families all have an escape plan; a huge platform with twenty balloons attached that lifts everyone up and away from the island. Again, problem; they only have 80 parachutes. So Sherman has to try and land the huge platform...

As I said, I love this book. One of the best children's fiction stories that I've read, ever... and the magnificent sketches by Mr. du Bois that describe the island really make everything come together more.

Summary of The Twenty-One Balloons

Literature Books

• Books > Subjects > Children's Books
• Action & Adventure
• Classics
• Science Fiction & Fantasy > Fantasy & Magic