Lion Down

FunJungle #5

by Stuart Gibbs

Teddy Fitzroy returns as FunJungle's resident sleuth when a lion is falsely accused of killing a distinguished dog in the latest novel in New York Times bestselling author Stuart Gibbs's FunJungle series.

For once, operations at the enormous zoo/theme park appear to be running smoothly (except for the occasional herring-related mishap in the penguin exhibit) and Teddy Fitzroy is finally able to give detective work a rest. But then a local lion is accused of killing a famous dog--and the dog's owner, an inflammatory radio host, goes on a crusade to have the cat declared a nuisance so it can be hunted. However, there's evidence that the lion might have been framed for murder and now a renegade animal activist wants teddy and his girlfriend Summer to help prove it -- and catch the real killer. And if that wasn't enough, someone has poisoned FunJungle's beloved giraffes and  the parks' owner wants Teddy on the case.  Now, Teddy finds himself wrapped up in the middle of his most bizarre, hilarious, and dangerous case yet.

Genres: Mystery, Middle Grade, Animals, Fiction, Childrens, Realistic Fiction, Adventure

352 pages, Hardcover

First published February 26, 2019

Reviews

[Mark Baker · Rating 4 out of 5]

While FunJungle is located in a mostly uninhabited area of Texas, there are some larger estates and ranches that border the park’s property. Living in one of those is Lincoln Stone, a radio and TV news personality that is known for saying very controversial things. He has a dog he loves, and, unfortunately, that dog has been killed. Lincoln is quick to blame it on the mountain lion that roams in the area, but the agent of the Department of Fish and Wildlife put in charge of the case doesn’t think that’s true. Thanks to Teddy’s reputation for solving puzzles at FunJungle, the agent turns to Teddy for help. Teddy agrees that the evidence left behind doesn’t add up. Can he figure out what happened? Meanwhile, Teddy and Summer, his girlfriend, are asked to figure out why the giraffes in FunJungle get sick every Monday. Will this case distract them from saving the mountain lion?

It’s nice to see Teddy get involved in one mystery that takes place outside the parks in this one. The mysteries are strong and are balanced perfectly, with clues that ultimately lead Teddy to the solution. The climax pulls in all the elements of the book in an unexpected way that leads into a page turning race to save the day. While this series has balanced the environmental message and the mystery well, this one got close to lecturing us a couple of times instead of working it in more organically. I thought the characters created for this book were a little thin and more caricature than character. Both of these complaints are things that adults will notice more than the kids who are the target age range for the books, however. The series regulars are still strong, and I especially love Teddy, Summer, and their families. The usual suspects also bring us several very funny scenes.

Read my full review at Carstairs Considers.

[Julie Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've read this series since third grade, and yet it never gets old. With the biggest plot twist at the end, and an amazing lesson to readers about endangered species, this book is definitely a masterpiece. 5/5 reccommended.

[Emilia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just love the fun jungle series! The books are always so fun and interesting to read while also being informative of endangered animals and how we can help prevent species from going extinct.
Can’t wait to read more of them soon!!

[Sam · Rating 4 out of 5]

2nd best in the series. I really enjoyed it.

[Eric · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was a pretty good book, except I can almost feel my attention slipping away from all the Stuart Gibbs books. The plot line is basically the same every time in every book unfortunately-

pg. 1- Teddy has something embarrassing or strange in some way happen to him

pg. 5- crime happens

pg. 20- J.J Mckracken (sorry if I'm not spelling Mckracken right) asks Teddy to solve the mystery and Teddy's parents say it is too dangerous, but Teddy argues against them.

It goes on like this throughout the entire book. It was a good book, but I won't be looking for the sequel.

[Rubi · Rating 5 out of 5]

SO GOOD

Omgosh, I love this series so much! It really brings animal safty and conservation to the forefront without being too preachy, especially since each book is an action and mystery case.
Summer and Teddy bicker a bit but I love that they work it out, put the animals first, and still work together in the end. Love this team and their friends. Even Xavier steps up to defend Teddy at school!
It really is sad how we put down animals just for being animals in areas we want to claim. I'm so glad they fought for Rocket. Such a great story and now curious what Tyrannosaurus Wrecks will be about since thats am extinct animal haha

[Ainsley · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good book. Just a heads up, you dont have to read the rest of the series to know what's going on. It mentions the other books a bit, and you can read the books before this one, but it doesn't matter.
I recommend this book to people who like animals and adventures.

[Elijah · Rating 2 out of 5]

Either the funjungle series is getting worse, or I was too young to recognize the mediocrity in the earlier books.

The plot and mystery were great, but it lost two stars due to the characters and the ridiculously overemphasized, environmentalist messaging.

[Neil · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was great with more twist and turns than a river. I recommend to everyone

[Zetta Grace · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think that 6th graders are too old for this book. I got bored because it want challenging enough for me.

[Rachel Yzenbaard · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good story that I did not know how it was going to end. It had less action than the other Fun Jungle books but was still a good read.

[Amelia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoy the fun jungle books, but I think they’re starting to get a little repetitive. I’ve been reading them as my brother had been, and while I’m definitely older than the demographic for these book, I have liked them. This one was fun, but it started to feel like a copy of the other book, being the fifth one in the series. It seems like Stuart Gibbs has a set formula for these books, and not much changes. Even my younger brother started to notice this.

Regardless, I think these are fun books. They introduce kids to a variety of different animals, and have a lot of actual research. They learn about animal conservation while also trying to solve the mystery along side teddy.

These books are great for a younger audience, but I’m not sure if I’ll continue to read.

[Aaron Lucas · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this one by Stuart Gibbs. He made an interesting mystery, this time laying out the evidence and clues in advance for the reader in ways his previous books in this series lacked. Fully enjoyed this one! I'm more excited now for the next book in the series.

This book was also a fair bit more mature than the previous ones in the series, but since I'm an adult now (I started reading these in middle school) that works out well for me.

[Eric]

One of the themes of Lion Down is that animals have rights and they shouldn't be harmed and have those rights taken away. In the book they state that there is a national park in India that people have moved into and settled illegally. This relates to the theme because it shows that animals have their own rights where they are the priority but people still don't care and denied these rights.

[Andrew StaufferV890hgmw]

I loved it! They found out that a keeper was accidentally poisoning the giraffes. He was feeding the giraffe a plant that he thought was okay for it. I hope that I find another good series now.

[Kim Bahr · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute story! Love the Zoom (Whoosh) used to feed the penguins.

[Ruth Cook · Rating 4 out of 5]

I especially enjoy the audiobooks of this series. Fun & some suspense.

[Aiden.M]

I think the theme of this book is things aren't always how they appear.

[Samuel · Rating 5 out of 5]

very good

[Tiah Varner · Rating 5 out of 5]

A super good book! I mean, I can usially find out who did by halfway, but for this one, I had no clue who it was!

[Stormi (StormReads) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fun series.

[Chloe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lion Down by Stuart Gibbs, is a realistic fiction and mystery story about two teenagers, Teddy Fitzroy and Summer McCracken who spend most of their time at FunJungle zoo/theme park. They meet an animal activist named Lily Deakin, who needs Teddy and Summer’s help to solve a very important murder. The day before Lily came, a famous radio host, Lincoln Stone, announced that his beloved dog, King, had been killed by a mountain lion. But Lily and her friend Tommy Lopez, who works for the Department of Fish and Wildlife, don't think so. They think that the lion was framed for murder! Meanwhile, Lincoln Stone just really wants that lion dead so he announces on the local tv news channel that whoever kills the lion will get a $50,000 reward. Teddy and Summer are very upset about this and are trying to stop this from happening. There are many more mysteries in this book! If you want to see how Teddy and Summer solve these mysteries, read the book Lion Down! In all I would give it a 5 star review for its creativity, action packed chapters, and very detailed descriptions.

[Nina Gase · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was amazing, every book in the funJungle series just keeps getting better and better.
I can't wait to start the next book (tyrannosaurus wrecks)!!!

[nazihaameow · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was Amazing! It’s probably the funniest of all the funjungle books although probably 3rd best mystery. My favorite part of the book was when -SPOILERS - in the beginning, teddy got nailed with that fish cannon and the way all the penguins acted when the cannon malfunctioned!

[Lizz Axnick · Rating 3 out of 5]

I WANTED so badly to like this book. I really, really did. I have read all the other FunJungle books and I loved them. This book felt convoluted and sort of reaching for a plot line. Most of it does not have much to do with FunJungle either, it is about a mountain lion outside of the park being hunted by idiots.

I just did not think the book was as well thought out and put together as the other FunJungle books. I will definitely continue the series but I hope the next one is better than this.

[Yapha · Rating 4 out of 5]

A must read for fans of the series and animal lovers! Another clever and funny mystery from Stuart Gibbs. Highly recommended for grades 4 & up.

eARC provided by publisher via Edelweiss

[Melanie Dulaney · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stuart Gibbs, author of the Spy School series, one of my middle grades favorites, has also written another mystery series called FunJungle featuring Teddy and Summer who solve whodunnits set in a zoo. This newest one, Lion Down, is my first to read and I’m sorry I waited until book 5 to start. Teddy and Summer are both bright, likable characters who seem to get pulled into seemingly harmless puzzles connected to animals at FunJungle and then discover that danger is around every corner. In Lion Down, there are two mysteries-why are the giraffes getting sick every Monday and did a mountain lion that leaves in the wilds near the zoo really kill an obnoxious radio personality’s precious puppy? The clues are all there, but readers are not likely to figure out either mystery before Gibbs reveals the answers in his own time. All three of Gibbs’ mystery series are terrific—full of excellent, context-rich, descriptive vocabulary, strong male and female characters, diversity in race and economic levels, and manage to do it all without resorting to gratuitous violence, profanity, or sexual content. Added bonus—all three series can be read in any order without spoilers or confusion by the reader. Highly recommended for readers in grades 4 and up who enjoy mysteries and/or action-adventure. Thanks for the dARC, Edelweiss!

[Ami · Rating 2 out of 5]

We really like this series and Stuart Gibbs books in general, but this was our least favorite of the series by far. Way too much reliance on poop for laughs and embarrassment. While I really, really like the animal protection aspect of the series, the others have been more subtle, which I think make them stronger - the kids come to the conclusion on their own that things need to be done. My kids were really turned off by the overly political aspects of the story, even though we all agree with the perspectives presented. It was a slog to finish.

[Kyle Pucciarello · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not sure if it's fair to rate a book that is technically still in review, but I wasn't so sure about this. A unique story about two middle school-aged students sleuthing around an animal park, but the execution was lacking. At 352 pages, it's quite overblown, and I can't imagine it holding upper elementary students' attention for very long.

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this with a 7 yr old. We both were entertained and always curious what would happen next.