Waiting on Wednesday: Tyrannosaurus Wrecks by Stuart Gibbs

Image: Simon & Schuster

Tyrannosaurus Wrecks by Stuart Gibbs. 336 p. Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, March 24, 2020. 9781534443754.

Publisher synopsis: In the latest novel in New York Times bestselling author Stuart Gibbs’s FunJungle series, Teddy Fitzroy returns as FunJungle’s resident sleuth to solve his most improbable mystery yet—with a victim that’s 65 million years old.

Teddy was all set for a campout at his friend Sage’s family ranch—but then Sage gets terrible news: The skull of a rare dinosaur that was being excavated on his property has mysteriously vanished overnight in the middle of a rainstorm, even though it weighed 500 pounds. Not a single footprint has been left behind. Since the dinosaur was top secret, the police don’t believe anyone outside the dig could have stolen it.

A T-rex skull can sell for millions of dollars, and everyone is a suspect—including J.J. McCracken, the owner of FunJungle.

Meanwhile, Teddy’s old foes, the Barksdale twins, have gotten into trouble with an illegally purchased anaconda, and Teddy’s girlfriend Summer wants to find out who’s behind the local trade in black market reptiles. The two cases will drag Teddy into more danger and chaos than ever before, in this mystery that’s stranger than fiction.

All of Stuart Gibbs series are top circulators at my school and, with good reason, they are consistently fantastic. I had the privilege of reviewing the first and second Funjungle books for SLJ. I haven't been able to continue the series partly due to time and mostly due to the fact that Gibbs' shelf is usually empty from the second week of school through the end of the school year!