Zoobreak

To no one’s surprise, keeping the animals hidden and completely comfortable is hit or miss. While Melissa’s prairie dog blends seamlessly in with her stuffed animals and Logan’s basement has become an ecosystem, Pitch stuck the chipmunks’ mouths closed with peanut butter, and the loon, a type of aquatic bird, is starting to draw attention in the pond near Savannah’s house. Despite all the things that are going right, Griffin is worried because he’s sure “something was going to go wrong. The only question was when” (149).

Meanwhile, Darren is determined to find where Griffin’s group is keeping the animals so he can make money off them. He hears an owl hoot in the distance and starts researching how to trap an owl.

At All Aboard Animals, Mr. Nastase falsifies insurance documents to cash in on the theft. The police call to tell Mr. Nastase they tracked the owl to Cedarville. Mr. Nastase makes the connection between Cedarville and Savannah, and he starts to devise a plan to deal with her that doesn’t involve the police, since he bought her stolen monkey from an illegal animal-selling ring. Klaus starts to question whether the monkey was stolen. When Mr. Nastase asks if he looks like a thief, Klaus looks at a lamp, which has a sticker that says “PROPERTY OF HOLIDAY INN” (156).

Since the ferret started living with Ben, the creature wakes him up when he falls asleep during the day, which means Ben has been sleeping better at night. At Logan’s house, his mom discovers the ecosystem in the basement. Twice, Logan calls to cancel the exterminator after his mom phones in a panic, but Logan knows this won’t stop her for long. Mr. Nastase and Klaus go to Savannah’s house, where Mr. Nastase accuses her of stealing his monkey. When he tries to take Cleopatra, the dog chases the men off the property, and if Savannah hadn’t called the dog off, he “would have pursued them to the ends of the earth” (163).

The next day, Mr. Nastase shows up at the group’s school. The children call an emergency meeting because their families are starting to notice the effects of the animals, and everyone concludes that they would need a zoo to take care of the creatures. Griffin forms a plan to break into the Long Island Zoo and leave the animals for when Savannah’s friend returns.

At a local restaurant, Darren introduces himself to Mr. Nastase, telling him he caught the owl that was stolen from his zoo. Mr. Nastase has figured out that Griffin’s group is behind the theft and accuses Darren of working with them. When Darren swears he didn’t take part, Mr. Nastase agrees to take the owl and says, “if you help me get my zoo back, I will reward you by not telling the police that you’re the one who robbed my place of business” (173). Though Darren knows he wasn’t involved, he realizes no one will believe him, so he agrees.

A spot for Ben at the boarding school opens up, and Ben is scheduled to start school in 10 days, which makes Ben sad. As he goes over the paper with the plan for Operation Zoobreak II, the ferret starts chewing on it. Ben chases the animal around his room, and the plan flies out the window. Ben can’t find it and resolves not to tell Griffin because “the Man With The Plan had enough on his mind” (177).

Darren finds the lost plan paper and shows it to Mr. Nastase. Meanwhile, Griffin’s friends pack up their animals and meet at his house, where they drive his dad’s apple-picking inventions to the zoo. Everyone they pass stops to stare in wonder, and Griffin is amazed to find that “in spite of the crushing gravity of the task ahead, he couldn’t help but feel pride in his father’s invention” (184).