Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #24254 in Books
• Published on: 2005-03
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 192 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9781584859895
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

From School Library Journal
Grade 3-5–This book is for readers who have gone through the "American Girl" series and are moving up to slightly longer stories. Sixth-grader Kit is a child of the Great Depression, and her family takes in boarders to help make ends meet. Kit gets an assignment at the local newspaper to write "fun, wholesome" stories and decides to focus on a friend's volunteer work as a zoo tour guide. Another friend, Will, is back from some hard times on the road and gets a job at the zoo. When the monkey house doors are found unlocked and food is missing from the boarding house, Will is blamed. In the end, Kit gets her story, saves Will's job, and thwarts the real criminals in the nick of time. The book concludes with factual information about the Cincinnati Zoo. The action is moderately paced, and there is ample description to bring the story to life. While Ernst does a fairly good job setting out the trail with Kit picking up the clues, the novel is unlikely to be a first choice among mystery fans. However, those who love "American Girl" will be clamoring for it.–Sharon R. Pearce, Chippewa Elementary School, Bensenville, IL
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Customer Reviews

A Wonderful Mystery for History Fans
The year is 1934, and ten-year-old Kit Kittredge is ecstatic when she lands a summer job with the local newspaper working on a Kids Column, for she'll finally be fulfilling her dream of being a real life newspaper reporter. The best part? She'll even be getting paid one dollar for every story that the paper publishes by her, which will really help her family during this time of the Great Depression. But when Kit begins snooping around the Cincinnati Zoo, gathering facts for her story about the Zoo Guides, she stumbles upon some very strange monkey business, that happens to be taking place right in the middle of the monkey house. Kit's nose for news tells her that she's onto something big. And she knows, with a bit more investigating, she'll definitely be able to get the scoop!

I have been reading the AMERICAN GIRL books since I was six-years-old, and I suppose I never grew out of them, for I adore delving into any new additions to the series, which is why I was ecstatic to discover the AMERICAN GIRLS MYSTERIES series. Kit has become my new favorite character in the AMERICAN GIRLS COLLECTION. Her nose for news, and her snoopy personality bring the short mystery to life, while her companions - her pal, Stirling, and Will, a local hobo - bring a wonderful spice to the story. The chapter of information about the Cincinnati Zoo is wonderful, and will teach young readers some unique information about the historical site. Overall, DANGER AT THE ZOO is a wonderful mystery story for middle readers who love historical fiction. And if you enjoy DANGER AT THE ZOO, I recommend checking out ANNA'S FIGHT FOR HOPE, a book about the Great Depression from the SISTERS IN TIME Series.

Erika Sorocco
Book Review Columnist for The Community Bugle Newspaper

Danger at the Zoo
When the American Girl company released the first American Girl Mysteries, nobody knew quite what to make of them. I must admit I'm glad this one is here!

The story begins when Mr. Gibson, the Cincinnati Register editor, gives Kit a corner of the Ladies' Page to write a children's column. Kit begins on this operation to write an article about the Zoo Guides boy scout program. As usual, she gets sidetracked when trouble arises at the zoo. The doors of the monkey house are unlocked night after night, a baby rhesus monkey is in danger of being stolen, and a strange tramp is lurking around the gates of the zoo. Kit and Stirling put the pieces together and discover that the monkey house is the target of a devious inner conspiracy that will endanger the lives of the monkeys and the well-being of the zoo.

Kit bursts onto the page with a slightly revised character (she is much more natural) and burns through the mystery while managing to stay sharp. The storyline is somewhat cheesy and unbelievable, but it is a good story nonetheless, and well written too.

Kit's Reporting Career Begins
The best of the three American Girl mysteries I have read. If you can look past the "Mary Sue" convention that a newspaper editor like Mr. Gibson would even give a kid like Kit the time of day, this is a great story about Kit and Stirling investigating mysterious goings-on at the Cincinnati Zoo that threaten the employment of their friend Will, a hobo who knows he is not trusted by the local adults.

Filled with great tidbits about the zoo's past and also how the Kittredges and their boarders have to live, this is quite an interesting read. There's even a few lessons herein, but the author doesn't beat you over the head with them.

I hope the fact that the Pleasant Company people are now publishing mysteries featuring the American Girls doesn't mean they will abandon their History Mystery series where other girls from other eras get involved in mysteries. They are well-written and it's interesting to see what eras and what girls they pick.