Excerpt provided by Penguin Young Readers Group.

Flight 29 Down: Static will be available March 2, 2006, wherever books are sold.

Chapter 1

((Video diary—Nathan))

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Okay, okay, okay . . . so my name’s Nathan. I hope this video isn’t too wobbly or whatever. As you can see I’m sitting in the back of this little propeller airplane and it’s kind of shaking around, so . . . Anyway, don’t worry about the lightning and stuff. I asked the pilot about it and he was like, "Kid, we have four engines. What could go wrong?" So I’m cool with that.

Whoa! Sorry. Man, that was kind of a big one.

Hey! Guys! Do you have to be so loud? I’m trying to record something here!

Sorry. Anyway. So here’s the 411. There’re ten of us on this plane. We’re all students at the Hartwell School outside Los Angeles. We’re flying to this little island in the South Pacific called Palau. We’re going on an eco-camping trip. I am so stoked. We’ve been busting our butts for like a year now doing car washes and bake sales and stuff to raise money for the trip. And now it’s finally on.

Yeah! It’s totally on!

So, Palau. Supposedly this island Palau has these amazing jungles and beaches and there are all these breeds of animals and plants that you can only find—

Whoa! Man, did you see that stuff flying around the cabin behind me? We must have hit an air pocket or something. Seriously. Did you see it? I don’t know if the camera picked it up or not. Here, I’ll pan around the cabin. See that girl? That’s my girlfriend, Taylor Hagan—well, my ex-girlfriend. Anyway, when we hit the air pocket her mp3 player went flying like three feet in the air.

Whoa!

Okay. You know what? Dude, I’m sitting down. Hey, I’m not scared. Come on. But seriously if—

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