Zoobreak

Analyze the debate between Savannah and Ben about freeing all the animals in Chapter 16. What are the benefits and drawbacks to each perspective, and what does each character’s stance say about what is most important to them? Is there a right or wrong way to view the debate? If so, who is right and wrong? Support your answer with evidence from the text.

Compare and contrast Darren’s and Griffin’s approaches to planning. What do the similarities in their strategies say about what makes a good plan? How does Darren's planning only for himself make his method different than Griffin's planning for an entire group? Ultimately, who is the better planner and why? Support your answer with evidence from the text.

Choose three children and analyze how they interact with the animals they keep at their homes in Operation Houseguest. How does each child’s personality affect their approach to caring for the animals? What do they do well in terms of providing care, and what could they have done differently to make the situation less stressful for themselves and the animals?

Track Griffin’s changes in his approach to planning by his attitude and thoroughness in the book’s three consecutive plans (Zoobreak, Houseguest, Zoobreak II). How does Griffin’s approach change, and how do these changes correspond to his character arc?

In Chapter 29, when Griffin and Ben are in trouble, the other children devise a plan to rescue them. What elements of Griffin’s knowledge about plans are present in the rescue plan? What does this say about how the children learn from and work off one another, and what message does Korman deliver by forcing the children into roles they don’t normally play?

The final chapters of the novel incorporate several sequences that seem almost too coincidental, such as the zoo not finding a home for the ferret. Discuss how these seeming coincidences had an impact on your reading experience and how the suspension of disbelief plays a part in your answer.

Compare and contrast the almost unbelievable nature of the book’s major operations with the real-life tension surrounding Ben’s narcolepsy. How do the over-the-top antics and realism of a sleeping disorder combine to make the novel unique? What does the inclusion of Ben’s situation alongside the zoobreaks and animal tension suggest about balance in storytelling?

Choose three relationships present in the novel and explore what makes each relationship unique. What do the relationships you chose suggest about the nature of individuality and how individuals are changed by the relationships they choose to foster?