A book that I recently acquired for the purposes of giving it away at an upcoming book festival with my friends in BCinDC.

Like all books for younger readers that I register, this is done in memory of Becky, the daughter of a dear friend and fellow bookcrosser, ResQgeek, who was tragically killed in August 2010.

Becky's love lives in you! Live her love by sharing Becky's hugs! Visit the Becky's Hugs page at Facebook. http://www.BeckysHugs.com

This book was selected because it represented a trifecta -- a classic I had never read (for my 101/1001 project), a book written more than 100 years before I was born (for Stina's 2017 challenge), and the word "earth" in the title (for the BookCrossing March Ultimate Challenge).

I found it to be representative of its time and its author. A little simplistic and didactic in some ways, but still with a good pacing and coherent plot. Some of the racial attitudes and the disregard of women as actual people which were typical of the time, but it was not a shock. I avoided a lot of Jules Verne as a child because I thought it would be scary. It wasn't, but it was a good adventure especially for a younger reader. I found the character of Hans quite intriguing -- in so many ways he was a non-entity, but then he again demanded his weekly pay on Friday evening despite being afloat on a raft in an ocean miles beneath the surface of the earth. I think the term is unflappable

This book is one of many being passed along to potential readers at the Kensington Book Festival by members of BookCrossing in Washington DC (BCinDC).

We are excited to be able to share this book with you and hope that you are equally excited by receiving a free book. The book is given freely to you to enjoy as you see fit, although if you choose to someday share it with someone else we encourage you to do so.

Any future reader or recipient of this book is encouraged to leave a journal entry here on the BookCrossing site to let prior readers know the fate of the book. You can make an anonymous entry without joining the BookCrossing movement, but if you are interested in joining, it is a free and spam-free community where your contact information is not shared with others. Best of all, members receive private messages via e-mail from books like this one when those books are journaled, allowing for long-term relationships between books and readers.