Zoobreak

Ben, Griffin, and Savannah are established as the three main characters of the novel, and Savannah’s passion for animals is at the heart of this installment in the Swindle series. The Benefits of Trust and Teamwork are introduced as integral to this novel as well, as the group relied on one another to complete their past heist, and they continue to need one another in their plan surrounding the traffic ticket and in the formation of Operation Zoobreak. Though these initial chapters lack the full cast of characters eventually involved in the heist, trust and teamwork are crucial on a smaller scale as Ben, Griffin, and Savannah scheme together and build upon their established dynamic. Through this teamwork, Korman also quickly reveals how Griffin and his friends struggle and thrive as children in an adult world, ultimately illustrating Power and Agency in Children. Griffin is limited in what his plans can involve since the children must work with what is available to them at age 11, but he doesn’t let this stop him from developing well-thought-out plans that use each person’s strengths to their fullest advantage.

Ben’s struggles with narcolepsy provide a secondary storyline in the novel. At the outset of the book, Ben views his narcolepsy as a weakness because he cannot predict when or for how long he might fall asleep. Though he enjoys participating in Griffin’s plans because it’s something the boys can do together, he also fears his narcolepsy makes him a liability, highlighting his struggles with power and agency. Ben’s looming transfer to a boarding school far away from his home on Long Island makes him feel even worse about his condition—he doesn’t want to go away because he doesn’t want to leave his friends. However, the pending change also makes Ben want to really contribute to what he believes are his last few plans. In addition, Griffin, despite his best efforts, begins to doubt that he can come up with a plan to keep Ben from going away. This foreshadows the holes in Griffin’s plans for the zoo animals and how Griffin will grow in terms of his planning ability, including his eventual realization that he can’t plan for everything.

All Aboard Animals represents a type of cruelty that animals face in real life by illustrating the poor living conditions and how the animals suffer as a result. The field trip in Chapters 4 and 5 jumpstarts the main conflict of the novel—the plan to rescue Cleopatra and, later, all the animals from Mr. Nastase. The discrepancy between what the zoo promises and what it delivers symbolizes Mr. Nastase’s deceptive nature and foreshadows the discovery that he stole the animals or purchased them from illegal animal-selling rings. For Savannah, the zoo represents everything she hates about animal cruelty, and as the resident expert on The Relationship Between Humans and Animals, the zoo allows the importance she places on animal wellbeing to shine. Finding Cleopatra trapped within the zoo makes the situation personal. Up until that point, Savannah and her friends were displeased with the conditions in the zoo, but Korman depicts the discovery of a beloved animal in captivity as forcing the children’s hand. In doing so, Griffin’s strength for planning is put to the test, and the results are shown throughout the rest of the book.