Zoobreak

The heist in these chapters creates an intersection between Power and Agency in Children and The Benefits of Trust and Teamwork as the children use their skills during the scouting mission. In particular, Melissa’s setup and Logan’s fact-gathering mission greatly benefit the group. For example, Logan’s skillsets shine as he successfully manipulates Klaus with his acting, further showing the agency children have in an adult-driven world. Additionally, Logan’s interactions with Klaus in Chapter 10 establish a relationship between the two characters and foreshadow Klaus changing sides by the end of the book. Logan pretending to fall overboard gets Klaus’s attention and reveals that Klaus is not completely a bad guy, since he forgoes his duty to rescue Logan. In this way, Logan is a catalyst for Klaus to change, highlighting the power he has individually and his important role as part of the group.

When developing a plan, Griffin accounts for as many contingencies as he can, but he can’t possibly plan for everything. Still, building a scouting mission into the plan shows his thoroughness. He knows he needs more information and so takes the team to All Aboard Animals so they can collect that information and make necessary adjustments to the plan. Pitch’s lack of success during the scouting mission shows how a single element can disrupt a plan. Griffin counted on her climbing skills to find the group a way to the zoo once everything was locked up for the night. When she’s unsuccessful, Griffin is forced to rethink, and his realization that they could get to the zoo by water shows how plans change and highlights Griffin’s ability to see pathways where others see roadblocks.

Though the part of Griffin’s plan shown in these chapters goes off mostly without a hitch, the plan becomes more complicated than Griffin initially intended. With the added difficulties of Klaus being a light sleeper and the fence being covered in vines, Griffin rearranges the plan around Klaus and decides the group will approach All Aboard Animals by boat. While Griffin does well with what he has to work with, he also gets too caught up in the details, which causes him to overthink, not think things completely through, and make decisions that don’t feel correct. As the plan grows and becomes more complicated, more and more factors land outside of Griffin’s control. In addition, the more out-of-control Griffin feels, the more nervous he gets, representing how leaving things up to chance creates stress and uncertainty and how Griffin must learn to trust himself.