Big Game (FunJungle)

Product Description Teddy Fitzroy returns as FunJungle’s resident zoo sleuth when a rhinoceros is at risk in Big Game, a follow-up to Belly Up and Poached—which Kirkus Reviews called a “thrill-ride of a mystery.” When someone takes aim at Rhonda Rhino, FunJungle’s pregnant (and endangered) Asian greater one-horned rhinoceros, the zoo steps up security measures in order to protect this rare animal and her baby. But the extra security isn’t enough—someone is still getting too close for comfort. Teddy and company start to suspect that whoever is after Rhonda is really after her horn, which is worth a lot of money on the black market. For the first time ever, the head of the zoo enlists Teddy for help—for once, he doesn’t have to sneak around in order to investigate—and the results are even more wacky, and even more dangerous, than ever before. Review PRAISE FOR BELLY UP "Great fun. . . .In his authorial debut, screenwriter Gibbs combines details of the inner workings of zoos with some over-the-top action for an entertaining read." ― Kirkus Reviews PRAISE FOR POACHED "This thrill-ride of a mystery is chock-full of hijinks for middle-grade sleuths and budding zoologists alike." ― Kirkus Reviews "[A] genuinely engaging mystery set in a zoo. . . . Poached is so strong that it is surprisingly second in a series, following 2010's Belly Up, with only a few lines that refer to past adventures and, better yet, do not give spoilers for an audience that is sure to want to read more. . . . This will appeal to animal and mystery lovers alike." ― VOYA "[W]hopper of a whodunit that delivers plenty of suspects, action, slapstick, gross bodily functions, red herrings, and animal trivia. This sequel stands alone nicely, and while the mystery is solved at the end, new occurrences promise to make Teddy's life much more interesting in a possible third book." ― School Library Journal About the Author Stuart Gibbs is the N ew York Times bestselling author of the Charlie Thorne series, the FunJungle series, Moon Base Alpha 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. Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved. Big Game THE STAMPEDE I was helping walk the elephants when we all heard the rifle go off. It was a little after seven o’clock on a February morning. We had to walk the elephants early, because it couldn’t be done during normal theme-park hours. The elephants were walked through the park, and tourists would just get in the way. In the wild, elephants walk a lot. They’ve been known to cover more than fifty miles in a day, although the average is around twenty. They’re built for walking (they’re the only animal with four knees), but even at a massive, state-of-the-art place like FunJungle Wild Animal Park, there couldn’t be an exhibit big enough to let them roam that far. So, in the interest of keeping the elephants fit and happy, the staff walked them in the morning, the same way normal people walked their dogs—only, the pooper-scoopers were a lot bigger. I wasn’t really supposed to be walking the elephants because I was only twelve years old. Any animal that weighs eight tons and is capable of lifting a small car can be dangerous. But since I was the only kid who lived at FunJungle, I’d gotten to know lots of the keepers well, so they cut me some slack—as long as I kept a safe distance and one of my parents came with me. That was easy to arrange. My father was always happy to bring me. As a professional wildlife photographer, he didn’t mind getting up early; that was the best time to take pictures of animals in the wild. Plus, being with the elephants reminded him of life back in Africa. My mother was a famous primatologist, and before my f