Belly Up

My 8 year old loved it

The best suspence for kids (it is appropriate) Although some bad words, but overall good book. Stuart Gibbs has wrote a good book Mystery about a hippo who was murdered Amazing book my kid loved it Very funny.

My 8 and 10 year olds loved this! We have now read the whole series!! The grown ups in the family enjoyed it too!

Bought this book to read at bedtime with my 9yr old. It is very amusing and written really well. However, I was a bit surprised at some of the language it contains (not the f word or anything, described someone as being p**sed off) so not for the younger more innocent maybe. Good book though.

Looking for a new kid's author to try now that Harry Potter has retired to a quiet life out of the spotlight? Try Stuart Gibbs. His first novel, Belly Up, is an engaging mix of mystery, humor, and adventure (as well as lots of trivia about the animal kingdom ranging from the fascinating to the . . . well, I'll let you read the book!) The story takes place at FunJungle, a huge new zoo/amusement park filled with many colorful characters. When the not-so-loveable mascot of the park, Henry the Hippo, turns up (literally) dead one day, only 12-year old Teddy, the son of two zoo employees, recognizes that this was no random event and begins his investigation only to find himself a target. The book is perfect for the 5th-8th grade crowd (although very enjoyable for us grown-ups who haven't quite grown up yet and still love well-crafted young adult titles). I'll definitely be following his next book (not a sequel to this but an adventure based on the Three Musketeers when they were younger) which looks like will be available this fall. The Last Musketeer

My 11-year-old loved this book. He was reluctant to start as he's a big fan of Stuart Gibbs' other series and didn't want to make the switch but later he had no regrets. We'll definitely be buying other books in this series.