Belly Up

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of animal abuse and weight stigma.

Twelve-year-old Teddy Fitzroy lives at a zoo named FunJungle, which is located near San Antonio, Texas, and is described as “the newest, most family-friendly theme park in the world” (2). His parents both work there, and the Fitzroy family lives in a mobile home provided by the zoo. The park has only been open for two weeks, and Teddy is already bored because he is used to interacting with animals in the wild. He lived in the Congo for 10 years until his family left due to a civil war. In addition, none of the other employees who live in the mobile-home park have children, so Teddy has no friends his age.

Teddy cares deeply about animals and is upset by the number of guests who break the park rules by feeding or harassing them. He gives the chimpanzees water balloons so they can defend themselves against a family pelting a baby chimp with peanuts. A security guard named Marge O’Malley apprehends Teddy, and she takes him with her to respond to an emergency at Hippo River. They’re both shocked to see the park’s mascot, Henry the Hippo, lying dead in the river with “all four legs pointing straight at the sky” (8).