Sunday, April 20, 2014

Poached.

Gibbs, Stuart.  Poached.  Simon & Schuster  2014      330p  $15.99  ISBN 978-1-4424-67774  elem/ms    Mystery/Detective   E-BN         

Teddy is in middle school and is one of those students who is frequently picked on.  He lives at FunJungle where his parents work.  At the park, Teddy seems always to be involved when something bad happens.  He is the prime suspect when the koala is kidnapped.  Some of the chase scenes between Teddy and the park security read like Keystone Cops.  Absolutely hilarious.  Teddy has trouble walking the thin line between investigating the disappearance, which he feels he needs to do, and staying out of more trouble, which he has been ordered to do.

This story is humor at its best
: believable situations where the humor just gets deeper and deeper.  Teddy finds himself in hilarious chases by Large Marge, chief of park security, and her staff.  The other characters who supply humorous incidents are the bullies at school.  They are quite stereotypical, but well portrayed.  Boys and girls will thoroughly enjoy the humor that surrounds this mystery.  This is an excellent purchase for upper-elementary grades through middle school.         

Summary: Teddy solves the mystery of a kidnapped koala at a wildlife park where he lives.  He is the prime suspect because he is caught on camera leaving the enclosure, but he did not do it.  Very funny sequences.  Grades 4 up.

Zoos-Fiction, Humor                                         --Joan Theal

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