Dear Diary, I've just read a very exciting book! It is called The Twenty-One Balloons, by William Pene du Bois. It is about a man named Professor William Waterman Sherman. He wants to spend a year in a balloon. But when he comes back, he has been around the world in only 40 days. He will tell the story only to the Western American Explorer's Club in San Francisco, of which he is a member. As he tells it there, he unravels the trip of his life!

The story takes place on the Island of Krakatoa, where most exciting things happen. Even though the explosion really happened, and blew up half of Krakatoa and made a noise that went up to 3,000 miles away, this book is fiction.

The part that makes this story most exciting is my favorite part, too.

The BIG explosion. On "D Day" in the Month of Lamb, Professor Sherman sat telling stories about San Fransisco. The island usually rumbled, but the Professor noticed it was shaking violently... too violently. A huge crack appeared in the wall. All of the families rushed to a life saving balloon raft.

To find out what happens, try reading The Twenty-One Balloons.