Dog Evals: Book Review: Poached (zoo, koala, kid, kidnapping, bully)

Poached by Stuart Gibbs (Simon & Schuster, 2014, 320 pages, $15.99, ages 8+)

(Watch the trailer here)

Imagine you are a 12-year-old boy named Freddy Fitzroy who’s having a tough time in middle school (think: bullies) but you live at Fun Jungle with really cool parents (a wildlife photographer father and a biologist mother). Fun Jungle, in the middle of Central Texas, is a zoo/theme park - sort of like Sea World.

And crazy bad things are like magnets, attracted to you. You solve animal mysteries (this is the second, after Belly Up!) but get into troubles along the way: fortunately your parents believe in you. And, in the end, you even get the girl!

Better than the Spy School Books!* (additional DogEval reviews of Spy School books here, too)

An adult book written for kids – a kid book that adults will enjoy – a book to share with your adult/kid – whatever! It’s grand!

Like many books for the “8s and up,” Poached

is a bit repetitive: perhaps the author had a word count he needed to meet and, therefore, found it easier to add more words rather than another ‘incident.’ Nevertheless, the suspense mounts and one reads faster and faster and is still surprised at the ending and how everything is wrapped up so perfectly. (I would love a table of contents, though – and fewer characters, though kids have no trouble remembering who is who.)

How We Found this Book to Review

By mistake! DogEvals was interested in Poached by Rachel Nuwer but wound up with Poached by Stuart Gibbs instead (Stay tuned for a review of Poached by Nuwer at a future date.), an easy mistake anyone could make, right?

Not really.

The Nuwer Poached is an adult non-fiction read of 374 pages by a science journalist while the Gibbs’ Poached is a primarily-for-kids fiction/crime/mystery/adventure book of 320 pages by that wonderful and prolific Stuart Gibbs, whose books we have reviewed before.

So, we were not disappointed that we had the wrong book (and the Nuwer book arrived a few days later) - and you will not be, either – no matter what your age. And parents will be glad of all the educational animal facts (that they will forget - but not the kids - just like the too many characters)

Kidnapped Cute Koala Kazoo!

Google says poach is “to cook an egg.” Dictionary.com defines poach as “to trespass, especially on another’s game preserve, in order to steal animals or to hunt,” a closer definition to this book.

But poach or kidnap, Kazoo the Koala happens to the most favorite animal at Fun Jungle – a koala on loan from Australia. Our koala is not the most exciting animal at the zoo but, nevertheless, people line up to watch him sleep – for hours!

And our Freddy, the prime suspect who was the last person seen leaving the koala’s habitat, has to solve the mystery before he gets carted off to Juvie!

The Characters are Real Characters

The head of security at Fun Jungle is Marge, called Large Marge, but only behind her voluminous back.

And then we have a juvenile police officer named Bubba (remember this is Central Texas).

The vice-president of Fun Jungle and head of operations, Tracey, likes to talk in synonyms for emphasis (“What they were upset at—and rightfully so—was the idea that they’d been conned. Duped! Bamboozled! Hoodwinked!” p. 125)

And, of course, girls – Summer McCracken, off at boarding school in Connecticut, daughter of perhaps the richest man in the country and owner of Fun Jungle; and Violet, head cheerleader at middle school and a member of The Royals (the cool kids).

And Kristi, the head Koala Keeper, who is ‘easy on the eyes.’

And the exhibits – Shark Odyssey, KoalaVille, Carnivore Canyon, Land Down Under, as well as a chapter titled The Toilet of Doom, all about swirlies.

The adventures? How about ‘Hank the Tank versus Furious George (gorilla) and his flying feces!’

The kids at DogEvals loved Poached and so did the adults. We can’t wait to pick up the rest of Gibbs’ books! And, of course, the other Poached.

*Spy School (2013)