Zoobreak

This was our first read of this series. Hopefully, my last. As the parent, I purchased this book to lure my 10 year old. We have a Doberman. Luther, is mentioned 3x in the whole book! The group of kids should be on the cover. I was very disappointed however my son thought it was somewhat good in spite of the lack of what seemed to be the main character -so I gave it half the stars. Personally, I would have given it one star. Tons of over arching vocabulary words (I love to read but this seemed a reach for the reading group this book was for) and mostly, delinquencies that I wouldn't necessarily want children to think would be acceptable.

If it weren't for Savannah's capuchin monkey, Cleopatra, being stolen, none of this would have happened. But Cleo was stolen, and it did! Griffin and his friends (if you've read SWINDLE by Mr. Korman, these are the same kids that managed to pull off the baseball card caper) are on a class field trip to the traveling exhibit All Aboard Animals. An old paddleboat has been converted into a traveling zoo. The kids are grossed out by the stench of the animals, and when Savannah finds Cleo in a cage marked Eleanor, she is absolutely livid. She demands her monkey back, but the zookeeper, Mr. Nastase, insists he bought her legally and has a bill of sale to prove it. The kids, grumbling, leave the floating zoo, but Savannah is determined to get Cleo back. It's Griffin who comes up with the idea: Zoobreak. He assembles a team of friends, each with a specific job, and comes up with the plan. The kids successfully (though with some hiccups in the execution) retrieve Cleo, along with all the other animals in the exhibit. If they had left the other animals, they'd have been home free. But Savannah can't stand the thought of leaving the rest of the animals in such squalid conditions. Trying to conceal such exotic animals as a meerkat, loon, beaver and more create havoc in the kids' lives. They realize they have to get rid of the animals before they are found out. Their only option is to break the animals INTO another zoo. If you think this is as crazy as it sounds, it is! The adventures Griffin and his friends get into are hysterical. The fact that the plans actually work are astounding. But of course, there are obstacles along the way, and it's navigating the obstacles that are the most fun. This is the first story I've read by Mr. Korman, and after enjoying ZOOBREAK so much, I know I'll read more. Reviewed by: Jaglvr

I have a 10 year old son who has Aspergers. As a result, reading has not been something he has embraced. He loves non-fiction books about animals but mostly because he will look at the pictures and read the captions. As a result, his reading has been consistently behind grade level and he has never been interested in reading fiction -- where my older son devoured the Magic Treehouse books, my younger son found them "too hard" and didn't hold his interest. Yesterday, he picked out this book from the school book fair. I was surprised he picked it out because it is long and it is fiction (no pictures to speak of). But apparently they had a video that made him want the book. We started reading it last night and for the most part, he is able to read it with little help. It is funny right from the start -- I was even enjoying it and wanted to know what happens next. The chapters are short so that it makes it very easy for him to read some and have a good stopping place yet feel like he has accomplished something. But the most amazing thing about this book -- he actually picks it up to read on his own -- without needing an adult there to read with him. He is motivated and interested in the book enough to want to keep reading to see what happens -- to me, the very definition of whether a book is good. For a kid where reading doesn't come easily -- for him to want to put in the time and the effort to keep reading it is nothing short of a miracle and makes me want to sing the books (and author's) praises from the rooftops. For every kid who eventually grows up to love reading, there will be ONE special book that gets them into reading. The humor, the kid-friendly format, the characters, and the subject all combine to make this THE ONE book for my son and I'm thrilled! I think my son summed it up the best when he quoted Sam from iCarly: "Hey Mom! Sam's right!! This is just like TV inside your brain!" [NCJAR]

Eleven-year-old Griffin Bing is known throughout Cedarville, New York as "The Man with the Plan." Recently, he and his friends had gotten tangled up in a mess involving a stolen Babe Ruth baseball card. Since that crisis has been resolved safely, Griffin has been on the lookout for another adventure, and he doesn't have to look very far. His good pal, Savannah, to put it mildly, is an animal enthusiast: she loves every creature and can recite all sorts of information on just about every one. She even has her own pet capuchin monkey, but to her horror, he goes missing, breaking her heart. Griffin and his best friend, Ben, help her search for her monkey, but the boys find nothing. It isn't until their class goes on a field trip to a visiting zoo on a boat that they make a horrific discovery --- the "All Aboard Animals" floating zoo has Savannah's monkey locked up in a horrible cage. And what makes it even worse is that the entire zoo is dirty, and the animals are skinny and obviously miserable. Savannah tries to get her monkey back, but the zoo's operator swears he is the legal owner. There's nothing Savannah, her parents, or her parents' lawyer can do. But there is something Griffin and his friends can do --- Operation Zoobreak! Everyone on the team has a special talent, like Pitch and her climbing abilities, Logan with his acting skills, and Melissa, who knows everything about computers. A person by himself or herself is alone, but a group of friends working together can accomplish anything. The team gets started right away on their plan to sneak aboard the floating zoo and rescue the monkey. Of course, things never go completely according to plan, and at the last minute, Savannah decides they should save every creature in the zoo. It's a good thing that Griffin is so talented with plans; they're going to need some good ones. Gordon Korman has written a number of awesome books, and ZOOBREAK is yet another winner. He has a wild sense of humor, and his characters are colorful and entertaining. Griffin and his friends are so much fun; the pages flew by in a huge, hilarious adventure. This book is overflowing with energy, and each chapter ends with the promise of more excitement. In addition, woven perfectly into the story, without sounding preachy or lectured, are the themes of friendship, working together, accomplishing the impossible, and having the courage to do what is right. I can't wait to read more adventures involving Griffin and his friends. --- Reviewed by Chris Shanley-Dillman

Griffin Bing, The Man With a Plan, and his fellow felonious sixth graders are back in this hilarious sequel to Swindle. This time, the gang is up in arms when Savannah's stolen pet monkey, Cleo, turns up in a seedy floating zoo called All Aboard Animals. None of the adults - parents, police, lawyers - can help Savannah, so she turns to the ringleader of the baseball card heist team for help. Griffin hatches his most ingenious and intricate plan yet: Operation Zoobreak. Of course, Griffin's plans always go much more smoothly on paper than they do in real life and Griffin, Ben, Logan, Savannah, Pitch and Melissa soon find themselves in familiar territory - way over their heads!

this book is the sequel to swindle, it is about the same group of kids, this time it involves a monkey, a trained attack owl and a plan, Savannah Drysdales monkey, Cleopatra is kidnapped from her back yard with a banana and then at schoool they go on a field trip at schoool and they visit a floating zoo only to reveal that is an awful enviornment for the animals and worst of all a certain kidnapped monkey seems to be there, how will the team figure this one out?!