Decoding the Newbery is a monthly column in which Newbery Medal winners are examined and deconstructed by regular contributor and author Catherine Faris King. This month, Catherine examines 1948 Newbery Medalist The Twenty-One Balloons By William Pene du Bois. William Pene du Bois’ The Twenty-One Balloons relates the peculiar tale of Professor William Waterman Sherman. All he wants is a leisurely circumnavigation of the globe, via hot-air balloon. He sets out from San Francisco – only to show up forty days later in the Atlantic, surrounded by the wreckage of twenty hot-air balloons. The world is shocked. America awaits his testimony with bated breath. How did he find himself in such a state? Via a chance meeting with a hungry seagull, and a quaint sojourn on the island of Krakatoa, top-secret home to eccentric billionaire families and a giant volcano! Of course! The Twenty-One Balloons is a light piece of speculative fiction, with a plot that mostly consists of Professor Sherman wandering around with the helpful Mr. F, who explains the history, government, and pastimes of Krakatoa at length. That’s pretty much it. But with this light framework, du Bois sets his imagination loose. For Professor Sherman’s outing, du Bois […]