The Secret Zoo

In this final section, the main events that were foreshadowed earlier in the novel come to fruition, with a final burst of increased pace and action where the immediate danger and plot are resolved. In parallel, this final section also resolves into a conclusion of further reflection and a focus on ongoing dilemmas, setting up the further books in the series, with the friends considering the option to become Crossers and the lingering and sinister image of the watching Shadow Man: “[N]ot only had they slammed the door on the night, but they’d also shut out something else” (244).

At this point in the novel, the narrative suddenly introduces fresh information about DeGraff, creating a book-to-book cliffhanger and raising the momentum at the moment of conclusion. This passage repeats the phrase “A hundred years ago” several times when explaining the role of Mr. DeGraff, focusing on his magic and sinister timelessness in a way that highlights his continued influence on the far future of the narrative (245). This also shows that DeGraff is the key to understanding the nature and history of the Secret Zoo, as only he has existed as long as the Secret Zoo has.

The final rise in action in the battle with the sasquatches enables the novel to explore key themes: By having two sections to the action, one where the allies fight together and another where Noah strikes out alone, the novel looks at The Powerful Bonds of Friendship and Learning Judgment With Courage and also at the interplay between these two themes, which is significant to the story’s moral and personal value lesson for middle graders. Seeing his friends in danger because of him and the sasquatches, Noah wants them to leave him, which they reluctantly do: “When they disappeared into the foggy night, Noah shifted his thoughts. He sloshed through the mud and advanced deeper into the Dark Lands. Alone” (221). Noah makes the same mistake at the beginning of the novel when he charges into the Secret Zoo without his friends: In this, he displays a static characteristic because he is resistant to the lessons offered by his previous experiences. He still sees lone courage as a strength in itself, perhaps exploring social messaging about male bravado for boys. The novel therefore sets up a direct tension in the themes of Noah Learning Judgment With Courage, while his friends represent The Powerful Bonds of Friendship.

The plot reiterates that Noah needs his friends: Though he rescues Megan, they cannot get out of the Dark Lands without support. Where Noah demonstrates the shortcomings of overdeveloped self-reliance, his friends show love and forgiveness by continually being there when he needs help, despite his rejection of them when he needs them most. The supporting characters of the novel know Noah better than he knows himself and, the book suggests, will gradually help him to achieve a greater level of self-knowledge and the confidence to ask for help.

Podgy, in particular, becomes symbolic of the transformative power of friendship. Ignoring Noah’s insistence, Podgy hides until Noah is obliged to accept his company; Podgy is shown to be right in believing that Noah would fail in his task alone. Podgy also becomes emblematic of the power of confidence, and the self-belief that the encouragement of others can bring, when Noah’s urging enables Podgy to fly. Noah believes it is a physical element that will enable Podgy to fly now, but Mr. Darby later informs him that it was “the strength of his spirit. That’s a power [Noah] showed him” (238). Podgy, the novel suggests, is rewarded for his loyalty and courage.

The theme of The Need to Conserve Nature becomes the focus of the last part of the novel once the sasquatch plot has been resolved. Until now, the pro-conservation messages in the novel have focused on specific actions, but the novel introduces a new factor into the equation: that for nature to survive and evolve, everyone must believe, focusing and enacting a powerful will. Mr. Darby signals that this requires a unified effort, indicating the focus of the further series:

The Megan Situation is over, and the division it created in the Secret Society will no longer exist. We’ll be united again. We need this to focus on our task, which is protecting the Secret Zoo—its animals and its magic (237).

The “Megan Situation” plot of the first book has introduced the characters, situation, and expositions: The primary purpose of the Secret Zoo series is to embody conservation efforts, including the need for unity and believing that change can happen.