Review Detail

Whale Done (FunJungle #8) Hot

Middle Grade Fiction 3450

A Whale of a Time

December 27, 2022 (Updated: June 19, 2026)

Overall rating

4.7

Plot

4.0

Characters

5.0

Writing Style

5.0

Illustrations/Photos (if applicable)

N/A

When an inconsiderate worker sets off fire crackers near FunJungle when the weather has been very dry and a kangaroo is spooked, a horrible fire burns down the substandard employee trailer park. Because JJ McCracken, the owner, has always been concerned about the threat of fire, he is prepared with crews that save the zoo, if not the housing or surrounding area. Teddy doesn't have a place to stay; his father is off to Argentina, and his mother can sleep in her office at the zoo. When his girlfriend Summer suggests that he goes with her and her mother to visit California, his parents can't really object. They are staying in an exclusive beachfront community with Binka, a model friend of Summer's mother. Also along is Doc, who is visiting the marine animal center in Long Beach. When an enormous whale is found dead on the beach, Teddy and Summer want to investigate. Cass, a scientist tasked with performing an autopsy on the animal, is willing to talk to the kids when she realizes they have a scientific interest, and Doc takes a shine to her and wants to help. When the whale explodes in a spectacularly messy way, Teddy gets involved in the investigation. At first, it seems like it might just be a college prank, and two local Harvard students are implicated, but Cass and Doc soon realize that the amount of explosives involved are not something they could have put in place. There's also a local beach resident who claims that the beach is disappearing, and it does look like sand is disappearing. This isn't FunJungle, though, and Summer seems to be interested in hanging out with people other than Teddy. Will he be able to able to solve the mystery without her?

Good Points

Like the Texas adventure in Tyrannosaurus Wrecks and the Yellowstone excursion in Bear Bottom , it's good to see Teddy and Summer being able to venture away from the zoo. Summer's background gives them the wealth and privilige to be able to do this, while Teddy's family's problems ground him. There's enough goofiness (like the exploding whale) to make this appealing to younger readers, and enough ecological mystery to appeal to older ones. Teddy's relationship with Summer sees some ups and downs; all 8 books of the series take place over a very short period of time even though the first was published in 2010, so this is realistic. Summer's celebrity, being used to hawk eco-conscious clothing, is appealing. There are some excellent villains, some animal highjinks, and, of course, Teddy's uncanny ability to solve the case. I very much appreciate that Gibbs' addresses environmental issues in his books, and also that he is responsive to reader suggestions and crafted a marine adventure after getting a lot of requests. Perhaps Teddy and Summer need to follow Doc and Cass to Baja so that Gibbs can write stories to go with titles that were suggested, like Twist and Spout and License to Krill.

The villains have improved since the first FunJungle book, but I would like to see them with a little more nuance. I'm a fan of characters who read a bit gray, although my students never complain about ones that are more black and white.

These books are a little easier to read out of order than the Spy School series, which is really helpful when I have a lot of students reading through them. These are always such fun, and do get better with each installment. I'm looking forward to seeing what happend next, but it may be time to return to FunJungle for a bit! It also might be fun if Teddy and Summer traveled to the National Zoo and ran into Ben Ripley!