BELLY UP

Twelve-year-old Teddy is a world traveler with a wildlife-photojournalist father and a mother who does gorilla research. Stateside, the family lives at FunJungle, the world’s biggest and newest state-of-the-art zoo and theme park, the pet project of a Texas moneybags whose daughter inspired him. Action opens at Hippo River with the death of mascot Henry the Hippo, a beloved creature despite an irascible personality. Teddy sneaks into the autopsy and later strikes up a friendship with Summer, the daughter of the billionaire owner, in his efforts to solve the mystery of who killed Henry. Not a typical child, Teddy has amassed a considerable knowledge of arcane facts of human nature as well as animal behavior in his travels. Overall, the story is great fun, despite a sometimes plodding approach to the narrative that is too reminiscent of a report. In his authorial debut, screenwriter Gibbs combines details of the inner workings of zoos with some over-the-top action for an entertaining read. (Mystery. 9-13)