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39-595: Belly Up is a 2010 children's mystery novel by author Stuart Gibbs . The story is set in FunJungle, the largest zoo in America and the only zoo/theme park, which is built in the middle of the Texas Hill Country and owned by billionaire J.J. McCracken. The story is set from the view of Teddy FitzRoy, a 12-year-old boy who is the son of a photographer and a gorilla researcher, and his friend Summer, J.J.'s daughter, investigate

78-443: A Medieval peasant named Tim who tries to become a knight. Book series A book series is a sequence of books having certain characteristics in common that are formally identified together as a group. Book series can be organized in different ways, such as written by the same author , or marketed as a group by their publisher . Reprint series of public domain fiction (and sometimes nonfiction) books appeared as early as

117-441: A common setting , story arc , set of characters or timeline . They are common in genre fiction , particularly crime fiction , adventure fiction , and speculative fiction , as well as in children's literature . Some works in a series can stand alone—they can be read in any order, as each book makes few, if any, reference to past events, and the characters seldom, if ever, change. Many of these series books may be published in

156-420: A dead jaguar on the table. Teddy is then set up when a text seemingly from Summer lures him to the black mamba cage, which is cut open with the deadly snake appearing to have escaped, and it is not found. It is also discovered that the security footage was missing around the time of the incident. Forced to sneak out of his mother's clutches and meet Summer to talk to Charlie Conner, a disgruntled employee who once

195-437: A definitive roman fleuve . Today, however, its seven volumes are generally considered to be a single novel. Proust's work was immensely influential, particularly on British novelists of the middle of the twentieth century who did not favour modernism . Some of those follow the example of Anthony Powell , a Proust disciple, but consciously adapting the technique to depict social change, rather than change in high society. This

234-622: A member of the Animal Liberation Front (who were also briefly Henry murder suspects), for blowing up a meat-packing plant. After being chased yet again, Teddy reaches J.J. and is able to present the evidence given by Doc in his office. Both Martin and Buck Grassley are exposed as Henry's murderers, with the revelation that Buck killed him in an attempt to force out a bag of emeralds he'd swallowed when Buck cornered Martin with them. The story ends with Marge O'Malley being promoted after stopping Buck's escape attempt, J.J. promising to hold off on

273-571: A novel sequence. For example, the Barchester novels of Anthony Trollope are only loosely related, although they contain a recurring cast of characters; his political novels about the Pallisers have a tighter connection and dynamic. A strict definition might exclude both. With precedents such as Madeleine de Scudéry 's magnum opus, Artamène , the novel sequence was a product of the nineteenth century, with James Fenimore Cooper 's works appearing in

312-525: A numbered series. Examples of such series are works like The Hardy Boys , Nancy Drew , and Nick Carter . Some series do have their characters go through changes, and make references to past events. Typically such series are published in the order of their internal chronology, so that the next book published follows the previous book. How much these changes matter will vary from series to series (and reader to reader). For some, it may be minor—characters might get engaged, change jobs, etc., but it does not affect

351-523: A security guard, and the ever dubious billionaire owner of FunJungle, J.J. McCracken. As the series progresses, Teddy becomes friends with, and later starts dating, J.J.'s daughter Summer McCracken. Currently, Teddy has solved eight mysteries that revolve around a main zoo animal who is in danger. In the Spy School series, twelve-year-old Benjamin "Ben" Ripley gets recruited to the top-secret CIA academy of espionage. He has several successful missions against

390-470: A series are sometimes enumerated according to the internal chronology rather than in publication order, depending on the intended purpose for the list. Examples of this series include works from the Chronicles of Narnia , where the fifth book published, The Horse and His Boy , is actually set during the time of the first book, and the sixth book published, The Magician's Nephew is actually set long before

429-530: A series can be by discipline, focus, approach, type of work, or geographic location. Examples of such series include the "Antwerp Working Papers in Linguistics", "Early English Manuscripts in Facsimile", "Garland Reference Library", "Canterbury Tales Project", " Early English Text Society ", and " Cambridge Companions to Music ". Book series can be compared with editorial collection, a type of serial publication which

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468-430: A very kid-friendly brand of humor, and the outrageous setting should keep readers' interest, especially animal lovers". Common Sense Media gave Belly Up four out of five stars and said in its review of the book, "At times Fitzroy's voice is a bit more adult-like than one might expect from a 12-year-old boy, and the jokes can be a little dated, but this is a fun, engaging read that moves through suspense as if it written for

507-568: Is chased through the funeral until an accident involving Henry's corpse exploding stops the pursuit, allowing Teddy to escape and contact Doc. Doc explains that he suspects Martin in Henry's murder due to his involvement in an emerald-smuggling scheme in which the South American gems were stitched inside zoo animals from the same region. It is revealed that Martin blackmailed Doc to keep his illegal activities secret by threatening to turn in his daughter,

546-508: Is common in the Romance-speaking world , especially in France. Although the two are similar in many ways, book series and editorial collection differ because books in a series generally have a common subject, character, or universe; in other words, a set of volumes that are related to each other by certain thematic elements. While books in a collection do not necessarily have a common subject, or

585-536: Is going on and they seek out a list of recently deceased animals, finding out that all but one large animal that died before Henry were from the Amazon rainforest. The family use the cover of Henry's funeral to sneak into the administration building and look through the blueprints for the hippo exhibit to find out the reason for the groove Teddy found, discovering that J.J. McCracken plans to build thrill rides through several animal exhibits. Teddy's parents are arrested and Teddy

624-964: The Penguin English Library (from 1963). Reprint series were also published in the United States, including the Modern Library ( Boni & Liveright , from 1917), in Germany, including the Universal-Bibliothek ( Reclam , from 1867), and in most other countries of the world. A novel sequence is a set or series of novels which share common themes, characters, or settings, but where each novel has its own title and free-standing storyline, and can thus be read independently or out of sequence. A novel sequence contains story arcs or themes that cross over several books, rather than simply sharing one or more characters. Fictional series typically share

663-777: The FunJungle series, the Moon Base Alpha series, the Spy School series, the Charlie Thorne series, the Last Musketeer and Once Upon a Tim. He also wrote a Batman comic called Bruce Wayne: Not Super . Gibbs wrote screenplays for Showdown (1993), See Spot Run (2001), and Repli-Kate (2002). Gibbs was born in 1969 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania , moved to Washington, D.C. at five, and moved to San Antonio, Texas when he

702-426: The franchises of the film industry. Notable nonfiction book series for the general public have included: In scholarly and academic publishing , scientific and non-fiction books that are released serially (in successive parts) once a year, or less often, are also called a series . (Publications that are released more often than once a year are known as periodicals .) The connection among books belonging to such

741-402: The 1820s, and Anthony Trollope 's Barchester books in the 1850s. In French literature , Honoré de Balzac 's ambitious La Comédie humaine , a set of nearly 100 novels, novellas and short stories with some recurring characters, started to come together during the 1830s. Émile Zola 's Rougon-Macquart cycle is a family saga , a format that later became a popular fictional form, going beyond

780-598: The 18th century, with the series The Poets of Great Britain Complete from Chaucer to Churchill (founded by British publisher John Bell in 1777). In 1841 the German Tauchnitz publishing firm launched the Collection of British and American Authors , a reprint series of inexpensive paperbound editions of both public domain and copyrighted fiction and nonfiction works. This book series was unique for paying living authors of

819-500: The Rings volumes or the Dark Tower series by Stephen King. Some authors make it difficult to list their books in a numerical order when they do not release each work in its 'proper' order by the story's internal chronology. They might 'jump' back in time to early adventures of the characters, writing works that must be placed before or between previously published works. Thus, the books in

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858-426: The attention of fans and has a habit of ditching her bodyguards in disguise to experience a normal life. Summer and Teddy sneak into Henry's pool to investigate his death, finding a metal ball with sharp points, revealed to be a toy jack from the gift shop filed down, and a groove in the bottom with a chain. When Teddy confronts Doc, the panicked vet takes the jack from him in the operating room, but not before Teddy sees

897-488: The big screen." Belly Up is the first installment in the FunJungle Collection, which takes place at a zoo/theme park in central Texas. Other books in the series are Poached (2014), which is about a stolen koala with Teddy being the prime suspect; Big Game (2015), a rare pregnant Asian rhino is threatened by mysterious gunshots; Panda-monium (2017) an abducted giant panda and Marge O'Malley asking Teddy to solve

936-541: The case before the FBI, which includes her sister; Lion Down (2019), a mountain lion falsely accused of killing a famous dog; Tyrannosaurus Wrecks (2020), a T-Rex skull is stolen, Bear Bottom (2021), bison disappear from a ranch; and Whale Done (2023), a dead whale found on a beach in Malibu explodes. Stuart Gibbs Gibbs' books have been described as "fun, fast-paced" and "entertaining." He has written six book series :

975-423: The conventional three-volume novel . A roman-fleuve (French, literally "river-novel") is an extended sequence of novels of which the whole acts as a commentary for a society or an epoch, and which continually deals with a central character, community or a saga within a family. The river metaphor implies a steady, broad dynamic lending itself to a perspective. Each volume makes up a complete novel by itself, but

1014-505: The director of operations. Teddy sneaks into FunJungle's theater where the autopsy is being held and secretly watches the autopsy. There Teddy discovers that Doc thinks Henry died from peritonitis induced by sharp items he swallowed, with Doc concluding the death was murder; however, Martin forces the vet to keep it under wraps. Against his mother's wishes and when the police don't take him seriously, Teddy decides to investigate Henry's enclosure. The next day, Teddy meets Summer, who dislikes

1053-463: The entire cycle exhibits unifying characteristics. The metaphor of the roman-fleuve was coined by Romain Rolland to describe his 10-volume cycle Jean-Christophe . In the preface to the seventh volume, Dans la maison (1908/1909) he wrote: "When you see a man, do you ask yourself whether he is a novel or a poem? ... Jean-Christophe has always seemed to me to flow like a river; I have said as much from

1092-416: The evil spy organization SPYDER with fellow spy Erica Hale whom he has devoloped feelings for. Books: The MBA series takes place in 2041 where 12-year-old Dashiell Gibson and his family are recruited to go to Moon Base Alpha, the first human lunar colony. In each book, Dashiell (nicknamed Dash) investigates dangerous occurrences. The Last Musketeer series is about a boy named Greg who goes back in time to

1131-427: The first book. This was done intentionally by C. S. Lewis , a scholar of medieval literature. Medieval literature did not always tell a story chronologically. There is no useful, formal demarcation between novel sequences and multi-part novels. Novels that are related may or may not fall into a clear sequence. It is also debatable whether a trilogy is long enough and whether its parts are discrete enough to qualify as

1170-406: The first pages." The term has subsequently been applied to other French novel sequences, particularly of the years between the world wars, notably: The 19th-century predecessors may be distinguished as being rather "family sagas", as their stories are from the perspective of a single family, rather than society as a whole. Marcel Proust's À la recherche du temps perdu has come to be regarded as

1209-505: The main storyline. Examples of this type include Tony Hillerman 's Jim Chee and Joe Leaphorn books. In other series, the changes are major and the books must be read in order to be fully enjoyed. Examples of this type include the Harry Potter series. There are some book series that are not really proper series, but more of a single work so large that it must be published over two or more books. Examples of this type include The Lord of

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1248-400: The preconstructed novel sequence is often attributed to E. E. Doc Smith , with his Lensman books. Such sequences, from contemporary authors, tend to be more clearly defined than earlier examples. Authors are now more likely to announce an overall series title, or write in round numbers such as 12 volumes. These characteristics are not those of the classical model forms, and become more like

1287-448: The rides, and Teddy and Summer watching the birth of Henry's son a month later. Kirkus Reviews stated in its review "Overall, the story is great fun, despite a sometimes plodding approach to the narrative that is too reminiscent of a report. In his authorial debut, screenwriter Gibbs combines details of the inner workings of zoos with some over-the-top action for an entertaining read". Publishers Weekly , wrote "A likable protagonist,

1326-410: The suspicious death of Henry Hippo, FunJungle's mascot. The book begins when Teddy Fitzroy is caught making trouble by "Large" Marge O'Malley, a notorious and unintelligent security guard. Marge's report is then ruined when Buck Grassley, the head of security, reports that Henry Hippo is dead. Doc Deakin, the cranky head veterinarian, decides to perform an autopsy against the wishes of Martin del Gato,

1365-531: The time of the Three Musketeers to save his parents. Along the way, he completes other quests and adventures with the Three Musketeers: Athos, Porthos, and Aramis. The Charlie Thorne series is centered around a 12-year-old genius named Charlie Thorne, who competes against various adversaries to find dangerous discoveries hidden by distinguished individuals throughout history. This series is about

1404-657: The works published even though copyright protection did not exist between nations in the 19th century. Later British reprint series were to include the Routledge's Railway Library ( George Routledge , 1848–99), the Oxford World's Classics ( Oxford University Press , from 1901), the Everyman's Library ( J. M. Dent , from 1906), the Penguin Classics ( Penguin Books , from 1945) and

1443-674: Was a step beyond the realist novels of Arnold Bennett (the Clayhanger books) or John Galsworthy . The twenty-novel Aubrey-Maturin series by the English author Patrick O'Brian has been called perhaps the best-loved roman fleuve of the twentieth century: "[an] epic of two heroic yet believably realistic men that would in some ways define a generation". Although sequences of genre fiction are sometimes not considered to be romans-fleuves , novel sequences are particularly common in science fiction and epic fantasy genres. The introduction of

1482-520: Was bitten by Henry, Teddy finds out that Charlie overheard Pete Thwacker, the incompetent head of public relations, and Marge O'Malley plotting to kill Henry after he fired feces at visitors. Teddy talks to Buck about his suspicions, with Buck revealing that Charlie was a former armed robber. Buck then asks Teddy to obey his mother and leave investigating to the experts. After a tiger is released from its pit near Teddy and Doc, both Teddy and his parents become suspicious that something more than Henry's murder

1521-471: Was seven. He attended the University of Pennsylvania . While in college, he studied biology . The FunJungle series is about a boy named Theodore (Teddy) Fitzroy who lives with his family in the largest zoo in America, the (fictional) titular FunJungle. Teddy and his friends solve various mysteries that occur around the zoo, trying to watch out for people that will make his life harder, such as Marge O'Malley,

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