4^th Grade and Up

As the park plans for its enormous one-year anniversary celebration, operations there seem to be running smoothly for once (except for the occasional herring-related mishap in the penguin exhibit). Teddy is finally able to give detective work a rest.  But then a local mountain 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.

However, there’s evidence that the lion might have been framed for murder, and now a renegade animal activist wants Teddy and Summer to help prove it — and catch the real killer.

The one thing you can always count on when reading Stuart Gibbs’s books is the amazingly detailed chaotic scenarios. This guy sure knows how to bring creative action sequences to life.

I usually try to avoid stories involving stupid people, mean people, and mean stupid people. Luckily in Stuart Gibbs’s books, the mean stupid people always get their comeuppance (fancy word for ‘a punishment or fate that someone deserves’) in the end. Spoiler Alert: one of those comeuppances includes large amounts of animal poop.

Mountain lions are strong, beautiful, and very territorial. Unfortunately for mountain lions and many other animal species, humans have forced them out of their territories. The biggest threat to animals is habitat loss because as the human race grows, all the animals who were there first get pushed out. This fact is pointed out profusely throughout the story, mainly by Summer.

I have no idea if Stuart Gibbs plans on continuing the FunJungle series. But according to his website, he’s got other stories brewing.

This week’s Weird but True Fact about Mountain Lions

From the ground, a mountain lion can jump as high as 18 feet into a tree.