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Belly Up
Cover of Belly Up
Belly Up
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Twelve-year-old Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt Fitzroy believes that Henry, the hippopotamus at the brand-new FunJungle, has been murdered. The zoo's top brass claim the hippo went belly up the natural way, but Teddy and his feisty friend Summer McCraken have other ideas. Could the culprit be FunJungle's animal-hating head of operations? Or is it FunJungle's owner—Summer's dad—a man who is much more concerned about money than animal welfare? The deeper Teddy and Summer dig, the more danger they're in—because when it comes to hippo homicide, the truth can't be caged!
Twelve-year-old Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt Fitzroy believes that Henry, the hippopotamus at the brand-new FunJungle, has been murdered. The zoo's top brass claim the hippo went belly up the natural way, but Teddy and his feisty friend Summer McCraken have other ideas. Could the culprit be FunJungle's animal-hating head of operations? Or is it FunJungle's owner—Summer's dad—a man who is much more concerned about money than animal welfare? The deeper Teddy and Summer dig, the more danger they're in—because when it comes to hippo homicide, the truth can't be caged!
Available formats-
  • OverDrive Read
  • EPUB eBook
Languages:-
Copies-
  • Available:
    2
  • Library copies:
    2
Levels-
  • ATOS:
    5.6
  • Lexile:
    820
  • Interest Level:
    MG
  • Text Difficulty:
    3 - 4


Excerpts-
  • From the book

    I?d just been busted for giving the chimpanzees water balloons when I first heard something was wrong at Hippo River.


    Large Marge was the one who caught me. No surprise there. Marge O?Malley was a security guard, but all she did most days was follow me around, waiting for me to cause trouble. I saw her slinking after me all the time. She?d always try to hide behind rocks and trees and stuff, but it was never hard to spot her, because Marge was built like a rhinoceros.


    ?You?re in big trouble this time, Teddy,? she snarled. She was making a big show of apprehending me in front of a crowd of tourists, shoving me up against the rail of the chimp exhibit and frisking me for weapons?like I was a mugger in some urban back alley instead of a twelve-year-old boy at FunJungle, the newest, most family-friendly theme park in the world.


    ?Why don?t you arrest some real criminals for once?? I asked.


    ?Right now, you?re the only person I see making trouble.?


    ?That?s just ?cause you?re not paying attention.? It was true. Half the park guests broke the rules. There were signs posted everywhere telling them not to feed the animals, or bang on the glass of their exhibits, or harass them in any way, but they all did it anyhow. Only ten feet from where Marge was patting me down, an entire family was pelting a baby chimp with peanuts. They weren?t trying to feed it?which would have been bad enough. (The animals had very restricted diets to keep them from getting sick.) They were laughing every time they hit it.


    ?Watch this,? said the dad. ?I?ll bet I can hit him right in the head.?


    Right as he was about to let fly, though, a huge red water balloon sailed out of the chimp exhibit and nailed him in the face. It exploded on contact, drenching him.


    Before he could recover, another balloon hit him. And another. And another. The chimps were fighting back, just as I?d hoped. That?s why I?d armed them. If the security guards weren?t going to protect the animals, then I figured I ought to help the animals protect themselves. After all, how would you like it if someone banged on your windows and chucked peanuts at you all day?


    Within seconds, the whole chimpanzee troop was lobbing balloons, howling with delight as they pelted the family from all sides. The family stumbled about, slipping in the water and spluttering for air?and now everyone was laughing at them.


    Well, everyone but Large Marge, who was born without a sense of humor. She whipped out her radio and alerted headquarters. ?HQ, this is O?Malley. We have a water-balloon situation at Monkey Mountain. I?ve apprehended the perpetrator, Mr. Theodore Fitzroy, but I need backup.? Marge always spoke like she?d seen way too many cop movies.


    ?Never mind that,? the dispatcher responded. ?Get over to Hippo River. We?re getting reports that something?s wrong there.?


    Marge frowned, though not out of concern for the hippos; she was annoyed her request for backup had been ignored. ?I don?t think you appreciate the magnitude of the situation here. . . .?


    ?This is coming straight from Buck,? the dispatcher said, meaning Buck Grassley, the chief of FunJungle?s security. ?Hippo River is a Code Red. If you?re at Monkey Mountain, you?re the closest to the scene. So get over there now.?


    Marge snapped upright and jammed her radio back in its holster. The idea that there was an actual emergency had stirred something inside her. She grabbed my ear and dragged me toward the exit. ?Don?t think this saves your bacon, mister. You?re still in trouble for what you did to that poor...

About the Author-
  • Stuart Gibbs is the New York Times bestselling author of the Charlie Thorne series, FunJungle series, Moon Base Alpha series, Once Upon a Tim series, and Spy School series. He has written screenplays, worked on a whole bunch of animated films, developed TV shows, been a newspaper columnist, and researched capybaras (the world's largest rodents). Stuart lives with his family in Los Angeles. You can learn more about what he's up to at StuartGibbs.com.
Reviews-
  • Publisher's Weekly

    August 23, 2010
    For the first 10 years of his life, 12-year-old Teddy's home was the Congo, where he lived with his parents, a gorilla researcher and a wildlife photographer. When civil war broke out, however, the family moved back to America; his parents now work at FunJungle, the world's largest zoo. When ornery zoo mascot Henry the Hippo dies, Teddy learns that he was murdered (after spying on the autopsy). No one believes him except Summer, the daughter of the Texas millionaire who owns FunJungle, and they work together to find the killer, even as someone is trying to silence Teddy himself. Animal facts are plentiful in Gibbs's debut novel, at times slowing the pace, but always offering interesting tidbits—sometimes of a scatological nature (for example, hippos habitually fire "streams of feces" at each other and occasionally people). A projectile pile of Henry's innards, a wild chase scene, and a new zoo addition bring this whodunit to a romping, if slightly gruesome, conclusion. A likable protagonist, a very kid-friendly brand of humor, and the outrageous setting should keep readers' interest, especially animal lovers. Ages 8–12.

  • School Library Journal

    May 1, 2010
    Gr 5-8-Teddy Fitzroy, 12, yearns for a little excitement at FunJungle, an animal theme park in Texas where his parents work. When star attraction Henry the Hippo dies under mysterious circumstances, Teddy is convinced that it was murder. Colorful suspects abound, from Large Marge, the security guard, all the way up to J.J. McCracken himself, billionaire owner of FunJungle. Teddy teams up with J.J.'s daughter to ferret out the culprit even as animal-related accidents begin to threaten his safety. A decomposing hippo disaster denouement will fill young minds with equal amounts of horror and glee. Dense with animal trivia, "Belly Up" will suit attentive readers who love mystery and random facts. Teddy's first-person narration allows readers to solve the mystery along with him, but his voice is oddly adult. The content and expression of his thoughts emerge as extraordinarily calm and rational, far from the typical preteen sensibility. His dialogue sounds much more realistic. Gibbs handles issues of animal welfare in a fair way without being preachy, and his motley cast of characters holds its own with quirky personalities and memorable details. Overall, this first novel brings together suspense, wild chase scenes, and enough character development to hold children's attention, despite a few incongruities. Hand it to fans of Gordon Korman's "Swindle" (Scholastic) and Jody Feldman's "The Gollywhopper Games"(HarperCollins, both 2008)."Caitlin Augusta, Stratford Library Association, CT"

    Copyright 2010 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

  • Booklist

    May 1, 2010
    Grades 5-7 Henry the hippo is dead. Yes, the signature denizen of Americas newest and largest zoo has been found belly up in his highly, uh, unsanitary habitat (hippos are extraordinarily regular in their habits, so to speak). But theres worse to come when 12-year-old Teddy begins to suspect its murder most foul andin the fine tradition of mysteries for youthsets out to solve the crime by himself. Well, he does have some help from beautiful Summer, the 13-year-old daughter of the zoos fantastically wealthy owner. Who could have dunnit? Large Marge, the surly security guard who has a cold spot in her heart for Teddy? Charlie Connor, the midget clown whos hated Henry ever since the testy hippo took a bite out of him? Or could it be a guerrilla act perpetrated by the anti-zoo Animal Liberation Front? First-novelist Gibbs offers no shortage of suspects in his fast-paced story, which deftly mixes humor and suspense. Cleverly plottedaside from one hippo-sized deus ex machina momentthis book is an auspicious debut that will leave readers clamoring for more.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2010, American Library Association.)

  • The Horn Book

    July 1, 2010
    Twelve-year-old Teddy is in heaven living with his gorilla-researcher mom and wildlife-photographer dad at the world's largest zoo. When the zoo's hippo mascot is murdered, Teddy not only wants to solve the mystery but also discover why no one else seems to care. Gibbs writes with absurdist humor and seemingly an insider's knowledge of how zoos operate.

    (Copyright 2010 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

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    Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
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