Today's review... Whale Done by Stuart Gibbs

Today's read is the eighth in a series, which I have not visited yet. Which isn't a surprise, since I have a tendency of diving right in. I do like the idea of an entire series written around animals, and after enjoying several books from the Spy School series, have no doubt that these will be well written and hold more than a little excitement. But who knows? First, we're going to dive in and find out!

WHALE DONE

FunJungle #8

by Stuart Gibbs

Simon Schuster

Middle Grade Mystery

317 pages

ages 8 to 12

COMING...

FEBRUARY 23rd!!!

After an escaped kangaroo starts a fire that burns down his house, Teddy Fitzroy accepts an invitation to go to Malibu with his girlfriend, Summer, and her mother, Kandace. He’s hoping to spend some time relaxing on the beach, but wherever Teddy goes, trouble isn’t far behind.

First, a massive dead whale has washed up on the beach—and before anyone can determine what killed it, it explodes. Doc, the head vet from FunJungle, suspects something fishy is going on and ropes Teddy and Summer into helping him investigate.

Then, Teddy stumbles upon yet another mystery involving tons of stolen sand. And the paparazzi start spreading rumors about Summer dating a celebrity, leading Teddy to question their relationship.

Without Summer as his trusted partner, can Teddy navigate the rough waters of this glitzy world and uncover what’s going on?

GOODREADS   /    AMAZON   /   BOOK DEPOSITORY

MY TIDBITS

Adventure meets animals, mystery, zoology, and even ecological themes as well as enough tension to make it fun.

Teddy's parents work and live at FunJungle. When fireworks and a kangaroo collide, the entire surrounding forest and employee housing goes down in flames, although the park remains fine. While his parents will sleep and live in the office until new homes are built, Teddy takes his friend up on the offer to spend time at her mother's friend's house in California along with the head doctor of FunJungle. While there, a whale explodes all over the beach...and the mystery begins.

While this is the 8th book in the series, it's the first one I've picked up. And that wasn't a problem. The tale can be read as a stand-alone.

This was a nice balance of adventure, fun, friendship, mystery, and information, too. Teddy and Summer work well together, but as with real friends, do have moments where they understand each other better than others. It creates a natural relationship and makes the two easy to root for as they solve the mystery and deal with other issues.

I do enjoy the animal twist and added information this series includes. Teddy and Summer know their way around creatures/animals, which allows a smooth addition of facts and information without ever feeling as if it's being purposely pushed into the tale. It just flows right in. The ecology side isn't any different. Modern concerns about the environment weave into the mystery and experiences smoothly...like Teddy collecting trash while walking through exploded whale guts along the beach (sounds a little strange but it works). 

While there is this learning goodness, it's the quick-paced adventure, which makes this enjoyable to read. Something is always happening, and it's hard to see what's coming next. Not only does Teddy have to figure out what's happening with the whale and the disappearing beach, but even the other characters have their own personalities and problems. There's family, relationships and friendship, too. The villain was also well-placed, and while not carrying quite as much depth, offered a worthy adventure for Teddy to work with.

It's a smooth read packed with information and excitement, and I'm looking forward to see what will come next (and I'll be heading back to see what other adventures Teddy has already had).

Review: Lion Down by Stuart Gibbs

LION DOWN

FunJungle Series, Book Five

by Stuart Gibbs

Simon & Schuster

Middle Grade Mystery

352 pages

ages 8 to 12

Teddy Fitzroy returns as FunJungle’s resident sleuth when a lion is falsely accused of killing a distinguished dog in the latest novel in New York Times bestselling author Stuart Gibbs’s FunJungle series.

For once, operations at the enormous zoo/theme park appear to be running smoothly (except for the occasional herring-related mishap in the penguin exhibit) and Teddy Fitzroy is finally able to give detective work a rest. But then a local lion is accused of killing a famous dog—and the dog’s owner, an inflammatory radio host, goes on a crusade to have the cat declared a nuisance so it can be hunted. But it looks like the lion might have been framed, and a renegade animal activist wants Teddy and Summer to help prove it. Soon, Teddy finds himself wrapped up in the middle of his most bizarre, hilarious, and dangerous case yet. 

 MY TIDBITS

Mixing humor with animal excitement and mystery, this is a fun read until the very last page.

Teddy is having quite the time with the new fish-cannon, which is supposed to be the new way to feed the penguins, when another problem appears. A dog has been murdered, and not just any dog. It's an important dog of an important person. The murderer is said to be lion. When the owner of the dog makes it his quest to have the lion qualified as dangerous and killed, Teddy needs to prove that it wasn't the lions fault. But no case is easy.

This is the first book I've read in the series, but that didn't cause any difficulties in sinking into the characters and the mystery. The author does a tremendous job at grabbing the reader right away. There's a lovely mix of wit, humor and dangerous tension, which makes it impossible to put this book down. Every page hooks, and each situation offers something new—whether mystery wise or simply fun on the humor end of things.

The characters are very easy to connect with and root for. Each interaction was a treat, and just right for the intended age group. There isn't an overfill on character depth, leaving them more with a cartoon feeling, but this works very well in the series and is sure to meet readers the way it should. 

This is a fun read and I can only recommend it.

And here he is...
Stuart Gibbs is the author of the FunJungle Series, as well as the New York Times bestselling Spy School and Moon Base Alpha series. He has written the screenplays for movies like See Spot Run and Repli-Kate, worked on a whole bunch of animated films, developed TV shows for Nickelodeon, Disney Channel, ABC, and Fox. Stuart lives with his family in Los Angeles. You can learn more about what he's up to at StuartGibbs.com