Book Description

Jules Verne remains a favorite author among children and adults because his works are just fun; they always have adventure, colorful characters, suspense, and a rollicking good story. Around the World in 80 Days is no exception. Phileas Fogg, the fastidious English gentleman, bets his friends at the club twenty thousand pounds, or what would be well over a million today, that he can circumnavigate the globe in a mere 80 days traveling only by train, boat, and his own two feet, well before airplanes made such a feat easy. Nature, thieves, and a policeman named Fix are all out to stop Fogg before he can make it back to England and claim his prize, adding to the excitement of the story. Fogg with his faithful servant Passepartout, a play on the French for skeleton key and the English for passport, encounter a fabulous cast of characters, and Fogg even finds true love. The daring of Fogg has become the stuff of legend, inspiring not only several film and television adaptations, but even real-life attempts at the trip. The first step, though, is to dive in and see how Fogg does it!