Twenty-One Balloons By William Pene Du Bois, Narrated By John McDonough: Unabridged

"After years of teaching math to reluctant young students in San Francisco, Professor William Sherman Waterman wants a change. He plans a wonderful adventure: he will spend a year sailing around the world in a giant balloon. With his friends waving good-bye on a sunny day in August 1883, he gently flies his balloon above the rows of city rooftops and floats toward the Pacific Ocean. But only three weeks later, a freighter in the Arlantic Ocean sights a group of 20 destroyed balloons---and the professor clinging to the wreckage. His tale of a marvelous island harboring unbelievable wealth in the Pacific Ocean and a terrifying disaster there stuns the world. Could his incredible report be true? Youngesters---and the young-at-heart---who dream of adventure will love William Pene du Bois' Newbery Medal-winning novel. Packed with richly imaginative inventions and delightful characters, The Twenty-One Balloons is a brilliant mixture of fantasy and fact. So say farewell to your loved ones, as narrator John McDonough takes you on the trip of your life. "An absurd and fantastic tale ... truth and fiction are cleverly mingled." ---Library Journal [from case]