Zoobreak

Zoobreak by Gordon Korman, published by Scholastic Press in 2009, follows a group of 11-year-old children as they fight for the ethical treatment and freedom of animals from a zoo with inhuman conditions. The book is the second in the children’s heist series Swindle, following Swindle and followed by Framed!. Zoobreak won Arkansas's Charlie May Simon Children's Nook Award (2012) and received a generally positive reception from Kirkus Reviews and the School Library Journal. Gordon Korman has been publishing books since 1978 (starting with This Can’t be Happening at Macdonald Hall, the first in the Macdonald Hall series) and is the prolific author of over 70 books for young readers and teens. His most noteworthy titles include the New York Times bestselling Swindle series, The Hypnotist, and The 39 Clues. A graduate of New York University’s film program, Korman now lives and writes from Long Island.

This guide uses the e-book format of the February 2010 First Scholastic paperback edition.

Plot Summary

Zoobreak opens as friends Ben, Griffin, and Savannah realize Savannah’s pet monkey has gone missing. The children are at a loss until they find the monkey held captive while on a field trip visiting All Aboard Animals, a zoo boat that promises wonders but delivers animals living in squalor. Devastated by how the zookeeper treats his animals, Savannah vows to free her monkey and stop the man from being cruel to animals.

Meanwhile, Ben faces transferring to a new boarding school where specialists can help him get his narcolepsy (a condition that makes him fall asleep at random times) under control. Ben’s leaving threatens to break up the group, particularly Ben and Griffin’s friendship. As Griffin develops a plan to break Savannah’s monkey free from the zoo, he also tries and fails to find a way to keep Ben from leaving.

With the help of some children who aided them on a previous mission, Griffin and the others scout All Aboard Animals, concluding the best way to sneak to the boat is by water. They enlist the help of Darren, a child they don’t like, because he’s a worthy sailor. The night of the mission, Darren doesn’t show up, and the group stumbles upon a rowboat when Ben falls asleep inside it. After rowing across the water, the group breaks into the zoo, where they learn that, in addition to the poor conditions, the zookeeper has also been training one of the animals to attack the other creatures if they break free.

Enraged, Savannah convinces her friends to free all the animals, saying she has a friend at the Long Island Zoo who can help find them new homes. The group agrees, but when Savannah learns her friend will be away for the next two weeks, Griffin must come up with a new plan to keep the animals at their houses until then. This has varying levels of success—most notably, the ferret who helps Ben get his sleep schedule under control.

Meanwhile, Darren realizes the group performed the break without him, and he decides to track down the animals so he can sell them for cash. When he approaches the zookeeper, the man threatens Darren into revealing everything he knows, which allows the zookeeper to pin the break-in on Griffin’s group. As Mr. Nastase pursues the children, they realize they can’t keep the animals at their homes anymore, and Griffin develops a new plan to bring the animals to the Long Island Zoo so they’ll be there when Savannah’s friend returns.

Despite obstacles, this second break-in goes well. At home, Darren wakes from a nightmare where he was mumbling about the group being in danger. His parents get the whole story from him—that he sent the zookeeper after the group at the Long Island Zoo. Darren’s parents call the police, who arrive at the zoo just in time to save Griffin and the others from the zookeeper. The children are let off with warnings because they broke laws for a good cause, and the zookeeper is punished for his many crimes, including animal cruelty. Savannah’s friend finds homes for all the animals except the ferret. Since the creature was so helpful for Ben’s narcolepsy, it goes to live with him, and Ben doesn’t have to go away to boarding school.