The 21 Balloons Author:William Pene Du Bois Professor William Waterman Sherman, a disillusionioned schoolteacher, sails in a giant balloon over the Pacific, lands on the island of Krakatoa, and witnesses a stupendous explosion in which that notorious island blows up. When Professor Sherman is found adrift in the Atlantic clinging to the debris of 20 balloons, all America rocks with curios... more »ity. Much of the story is based on complete truth -- scientific principles behind 19th century balloon inventions and the history of the amazing civilization found on Krakatoa. The rest, agrees the author, is absolute nonsense. Winner of the 1948 Newbery Medal« less