Cover of Belly Up

Belly Up

by Stuart Gibbs

Belly Up by Stuart Gibbs is assigned in US schools at grades 3–5. It appears across 1 curriculum reference and 1 state, sourced from state DOE pages and AP/IB/Common Core syllabi. Every citation below links to the primary source.

This page shows where Belly Up is assigned in US schools — curricula, states, grades, and the primary-source citations behind each placement. Not a summary or study guide.

Grade range
Grades 3–5
Pages
320
Reading time
about 5h 50m (est.)
First published
2011
ISBN-13
9781416987321
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About this book

12 year old Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt Fitzroy has got a murder on his hands and trouble on his tail. Henry, the hippopatamus at the brand-new nationally known FunJungle, has gone belly up. Even though it's claimed he died of natural causes, Teddy smells something fishy and it sure ain't the polar bear's lunch. Dealing with the zoo's top brass proves to be nothing but a waste of time. They want to see any trace of Henry's death disappear like yesterday's paper. So Teddy sets out to find the truth. With the help of Summer McCraken, a fiesty girl with secrets of her own, the two narrow down their prime suspects. Is it Martin Del Gato, FunJungle's head of operations who hates kids and hates animals even more? Or J.J McCraken, the owner of FunJungle and and hates animals even more? Or J.J McCr

Where this book is assigned

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Common questions

What grade level is Belly Up?
Belly Up is most commonly assigned in US schools in grades 3–5. Specific grade placement varies by curriculum — AP Literature and IB English Literature typically use it in grades 11-12.
How long does it take to read Belly Up?
It takes about 5h 50m to read Belly Up (320 pages) at an average adult reading pace of about 250 words per minute — roughly 350 minutes. Faster or slower readers will vary; the estimate is a planning guide for assigning the book.
What curricula assign Belly Up?
Belly Up appears on reading lists for Maud Hart Lovelace Book Award. Each assignment on this site links to its primary-source citation.
Is Belly Up banned in schools?
Belly Up does not appear in PEN America's Index of School Book Bans 2022-2024. No documented multi-district removals on record, but individual districts may challenge titles locally.

Why this book is on this list

Each dimension below is sourced from a public reference. The full framework is documented on the classification standard page.

Lexile measure
Not classified — this book has no published Lexile measure.
Grade band
Grades 3–5 — drawn from state ELA frameworks and AP/IB syllabi citing this book.
Curriculum alignment
Cited in 1 curriculum on this site (see “Where assigned” above for primary-source links).
State-level evidence
Cited in 1 state ELA framework or DOE list (see citations above).
Removal / banning records
No tracked removal or challenge records in cited sources.
Seasonal / contextual tags
Tagged for: award-winner.