Meet the Crew at the Zoo

by Patricia Reilly Giff

  Text copyright © 2020 by Patricia Reilly Giff

  Art copyright © 2020 by Abby Carter

  All Rights Reserved

  HOLIDAY HOUSE is registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

  www.holidayhouse.com

  First Edition

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Names: Giff, Patricia Reilly, author. | Carter, Abby, illustrator.

  Title: Meet the crew at the zoo / by Patricia Reilly Giff; illustrated by Abby Carter.

  Description: First edition. | New York : Holiday House, [2020]

  Series: Mysteries on Zoo Lane; book 1 | Audience: Ages 7 and up.

  Audience: Grades 2-3. | Summary: Luke is unhappy about leaving his home and abuelo when his father takes a job at a New York zoo, but soon he has new friends and a mystery to solve. Includes facts about zoo animals and wildlife.

  Identifiers: LCCN 2019029201 ISBN 9780823446667 (hardcover)

  Subjects: CYAC: Zoos—Fiction. | Moving, Household—Fiction. Family life—Fiction. Friendship—Fiction. | Zoo animals—Fiction.

  Mystery and detective stories. | Classification: LCC PZ7.G3626 Mc 2020

  DDC [Fic]—dc23 | LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019029201

  Hardcover ISBN 9780823446667

  Ebook ISBN 9780823448159

  a_prh_5.6.0_c0_r0

  Contents

  Cover

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Dedication

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  More About Wild Animals

  CHAPTER 1

  THE plane roared to a stop. Luke’s throat burned. He told himself he was too old to cry.

  Dad was talking. “You’ll love this place with its new zoo, Luke. Animals will too.”

  Dad waved his arms around. “Their spaces will be large. They’ll look like their homes in the wild. And their food will taste just right.”

  Luke tried to nod. The animals might be happy here. But would he?

  If only they were back with his abuelo, near the zoo in Florida.

  Abuelo had looked so sad when they left.

  Dad knew what Luke was thinking. “I’m really sorry. But I’ll be the zoo doctor here.”

  Luke wanted to say, you were the zoo doctor in Florida. And I had friends. I had Abuelo.

  Dad patted Luke’s arm. “We’re home in New York now.”

  “Home,” Mom echoed.

  Luke had been born in New York. But he hardly remembered it.

  “You may not be happy at first,” Dad said. “But you’ll see.”

  Mom put her arms around Luke and his five-year-old sister, Benita, while they waited for their bags.

  It was almost night. Luke tried not to yawn.

  A taxi came next. It drove them from one street to another.

  Luke peered out the window.

  The taxi was stopping…at a falling-down house on Zoo Lane.

  Blue paint had chipped off the walls.

  In Abuelo’s house, the paint stayed where it belonged. A nice green color.

  Luke listened to Benita sing as they went up the walk. She was always singing. “This place looks like it might be horrible. At least I think so.”

  Luke swallowed. She might be right.

  CHAPTER 2

  INSIDE, they rushed to the window.

  “It’s too dark to see out there,” Benita said.

  “We’ll see it tomorrow,” Dad said.

  He leaned over Luke’s shoulder. “Aren’t we lucky! The zoo begins in the back of our house. Abuelo would have loved it.”

  Luke thought of his grandfather with his white beard and mustache.

  Abuelo worked at the Florida zoo. He knew all about giraffes and camels and kangaroos.

  He loved tigers too. How worried he looked when he said they were “endangered.”

  It was the first time Luke had heard that word. He stumbled over it: “endangered.”

  Abuelo had shaken his head. “The wild animals’ forests are farms now, and trees are cut down for wood. But worse is the illegal poaching.”

  Luke frowned. Hadn’t he heard those words before? Weren’t they about killing wild animals for fur and feathers, for meat and even medicines?

  Abuelo had said, “We need zoos to help. How terrible if the animals were gone.”

  “Time for bed,” Mom said.

  Bed in this new house!

  Luke passed an empty bedroom in the hall. It was dark. Scary.

  He could hardly see anything in his room either.

  He threw on his pajamas and dived into bed.

  The closet door was open.

  A place for something to hide!

  He’d read about a monster with claws. It was a made-up story for fun.

  But still…

  In bed, he heard a roar.

  “Yeow!” He pulled the quilt over his head. He slid the pillow on top.

  He could hardly breathe.

  “It’s only a lion,” Benita sang from her bedroom.

  Luke crossed his fingers. “I wasn’t afraid.”

  Abuelo had said you could hear a lion roar five miles away. But this one was only in the zoo out back.

  It was too hot! Luke threw the pillow on the floor and wiggled out from under the quilt.

  What about the closet?

  He jumped up and slammed the door shut. He dragged a chair in front of it.

  Safe!

  He went back to bed. What a terrible place this was.

  If only he weren’t afraid of the dark.

  Did he say it aloud?

  “Count the animals,” Benita sang. “You’ll fall asleep.”

  Good idea.

  “Tigers,” he began. “Lions, seals, giraffes…”

  CHAPTER 3

  IT was morning.

  “We have to hurry,” Dad said. He was on his way to the zoo. “A black spider monkey might be born today.”

  Luke threw on his jeans. He was going too. Soon he’d begin to help.

  At the stove, Mom fried bananas. She’d buttered toast to go with them.

  Luke finished breakfast in three minutes. But Dad was already on his way.

  Luke shoved a piece of toast in his pocket.

  “What a mess,” Benita said.

  Did she ever mind her business? At least she’d forgotten to sing. He grinned at her.

  Outside, he caught up with Dad. They went through the iron zoo gates.

  Next they circled a pond. A green flag flew in front: TORTOISE TOWN.

  “Imagine,” Dad told him. “Those giant tortoises lay eggs as big as tennis balls.”

  Abuelo had told him that too.

  He’d said they could live almost two hundred years.

  They kept going. Keepers were feeding the animals. Some ate meat. Some had greens. Some even ate mice.

  Poor mice!

  Dad unlocked the door to a white building: THE BABY ZOO HOUSE.

  “Want to look around outside?” he asked. “There’ll be plenty of time for you to help me.”

  “Sure.” Luke wandered down a path. Tree branches met
over his head. A squirrel chittered somewhere.

  “Don’t miss the giant ant-eater,” a woman said. She was wearing a raincoat.

  A raincoat on this hot sunny day?

  She must have known what he was thinking.

  “I keep the ponds clean.” She grinned at him.

  He grinned back.

  “Anteaters are my favorites,” she said. “I talk to schoolchildren about them.”

  Luke nodded.

  “They’re great swimmers,” the woman said, waving her arms around. “They use their long snouts as snorkels.”

  “Really?”

  “Everyone calls me Nana-Next-Door,” she said.

  “Really,” he said again.

  “I live next door to the zoo,” she said. “I even live next door to you.”

  Luke closed his mouth before he could say “really” again.

  He watched as Nana cleaned around the edge of the pond.

  He looked along the path. A boy was sweeping toward him.

  Dust rose in the air.

  Luke bent over sneezing.

  The boy raised his shoulders.

  Was he sorry? Luke couldn’t tell.

  A box lay half hidden in the bushes.

  Luke reached for it. So did the boy. They rolled on the path.

  “Hey,” Luke yelled.

  The boy yelled “hey” too.

  Was he friendly? Maybe not.

  Were the kids terrible here?

  CHAPTER 4

  WRONG!

  “Sorry.” The boy let go of the box.

  Luke let go too.

  “Are you a new kid?” The boy didn’t wait for an answer. “I’m an old kid, Mitchell. I’ve always lived here.”

  Luke nodded. “I’m Luke, named for my grandfather. Almost. His name is Lukas.”

  “Let’s see what’s in the box,” Mitchell said.

  A peacock swept past. He fanned out his blue and gold feathers. They stopped to watch.

  Then they opened the box, which had a zebra-striped cover.

  Inside was a green collar. Luke’s favorite color.

  The collar was too small for a jaguar, too big for a black spider monkey.

  The best part was a dollar bill, never mind that it was old and crinkled.

  A note was stuck to it. FOR FOOD THE FIRST DAY.

  A girl went by, a cat in her arms.

  Luke held up the box. “Yours?” he called.

  “No, sorry,” the girl said.

  “That’s Tori,” Mitchell told him.

  But then Dad was calling. “Luke?”

  The black spider monkey must have been born.

  Luke was ready to run. “My father wants me.” But what about the box? “Maybe we could find out whose it is.”

  “Wait, I can’t help,” Mitchell said. “Sorry. I’m going to Zoo Camp for a week. See you when I get back.”

  “See you.” Luke would take the box. Maybe he could find the owner.

  “Get some of the kids to help,” Mitchell said.

  “All right.” He didn’t want to say that the only kid he knew was his five-year-old sister.

  Mitchell called back, “Just watch out for Alex. He never stops talking.”

  CHAPTER 5

  LUKE opened the Baby Zoo House door. He was out of breath.

  Dad smiled. “Look.”

  The mother black spider monkey was behind a glass door. A baby was wrapped around her middle.

  Luke leaned forward.

  He saw a tiny head and closed eyes.

  “The mom looks like a spider when she holds on to branches,” Dad said. “She has long legs, a long tail. They go in different directions.”

  She could grab the closet monster with one leg. She’d slam the door with her tail.

  “Can you train a black spider monkey?” he asked.

  Dad shook his head. “No. And really important, Luke: Wild animals are never meant to be pets.”

  He nodded. Dad had said that over and over.

  Luke saw another door. STAY OUT, the sign said.

  “What’s in there?” he asked.

  Dad didn’t answer. He looked at his watch. “The zoo is opening.”

  Luke went outside. People were walking up the path.

  Kids were standing near Nana-Next-Door. She was talking about anteaters.

  “No teeth,” she said, “but sticky tongues. They scoop up thousands of ants every day.”

  She saw Luke and waved.

  He waved back. Then he dusted off the zebra box with his elbow.

  He thought of Mitchell.

  A new friend?

  But he’d be gone for…Luke couldn’t remember how long.

  What good was that?

  CHAPTER 6

  AT Tapir Town, Luke sank down on a bench.

  The tapirs were huge. Abuelo had said they weighed hundreds of pounds.

  One of them raised its snout; it curled its lip.

  Was it making a face at him?

  He curled his lip too, just for fun.

  There was a shadow next to him.

  Luke looked up. A boy stood there. His jeans had mud on the knees. His sneakers were filthy.

  “Hey.” The boy gave the box a rap. “What do you have there?”

  He left a handprint of dirt.

  Luke held the box tighter.

  The boy gripped his shoulder. “It might be mine. I had a box like that. I’ve looked all over…”

  “What’s inside?” Luke asked.

  “I don’t remember. It was a zebra box, though. I had it yesterday.”

  “Is your name Alex?” Luke asked.

  “Right,” said the boy. “It’s not a great name. I couldn’t spell the whole thing at first: Alexander. The kids laughed…”

  He was never going to stop talking. Luke nodded and hurried up the path.

  “Wait,” Alex called. “I’ll tell you about…”

  Luke crossed Zoo Lane.

  Footsteps came behind him.

  He climbed his front steps.

  The door was locked.

  He rang the bell and kept his finger on it.

  At last Benita opened the door.

  She stood on tiptoes to look over Luke’s shoulder.

  “Come on in,” she said.

  Was she talking to Alex?

  CHAPTER 7

  “HEY, Tori,” Benita was saying.

  Luke ducked inside. He looked back. It was the girl with the cat.

  Alex was trotting across the lawn, going the other way.

  “Where’s the cat?” Luke asked.

  “Home, slurping down my mom’s miso soup.”

  She made slurping noises. Her teeth were covered with orange braces.

  She touched the box with one finger. “Zebra stripes.”

  “It’s not mine,” Luke said.

  Benita was talking at the same time. “Mom made cookies. Want one?”

  Tori circled around him into the house.

  She followed Benita down the hall.

  “My friend David used to live here,” Tori said. “You can see the whole zoo from the attic window.”

  In the kitchen, Benita held out a plate of cookies. They were mostly crumbs. “I ate a few.”

  She raised her shoulders. “I guess I ate a lot.”

  “I don’t blame you.” Tori scooped up a raisin. She looked toward the attic stairs. “It’s cool up there.”

  Benita wiped her mouth. “Let’s go.”

  Luke took the last crumb. Then he followed them up.

  Heat blasted in the attic.

  “I thought you said it was cool.” Benita wiped her forehead.

  “I meant neat,” Tori said.

&
nbsp; She was right. Luke could see the zoo from the filthy window. All of it.

  Alex was there, leaning against the fence. He was talking to somebody…or maybe one of the animals.

  Tori pointed. “I love the jaguars. Their spots look like roses. I read that they’re called rosettes.”

  Luke looked down at the jaguars. Dad was just beyond them in an empty field.

  Three kids were looking at the jaguars too. They were eating popcorn.

  “From zebra boxes!” he said.

  the Blue Zoo Stand. Everything’s blue. Ice cream, cotton candy. All except the boxes.”

  Luke dived down the attic stairs.

  He raced to the Blue Zoo Stand.

  CHAPTER 8

  LUKE ran along the zoo path. He passed Dad in the field.

  He circled around another field.

  Tigers lay there. They stared at him with their great yellow eyes. One of them yawned.

  Nana-Next-Door was watching them.

  “Gorgeous, aren’t they?” she said.

  “My grandfather works at a zoo. He says that their stripes are like fingerprints. Every tiger is different.”

  Nana-Next-Door nodded. “If only your grandfather were here. He could talk to a group of kids with me.”

  “I wish he was here too,” Luke said.

  But he was wasting time. He began to run again.

  He slid to a stop at the Blue Zoo Stand. Bins were filled with blue popcorn and cotton candy. The popcorn smelled great…or was it the cotton candy?

  A teenaged boy leaned against the counter. He wore a Blue Zoo cap. OMAR was written across the front.

  Omar’s father was at the other end of the stand. He was scooping blue ice cream into a cup.