In this âfunny and heartwarmingâ (Booklist) historical fiction companion to The Rhino in Right Field, Nickâs summer gets way more exciting when a polar bear escapes from the local zooâperfect for fans of Stuart Gibbs and The One and Only Ivan.
Itâs 1948, and twelve-year-old Nick is ready for the best summer ever. Heâs going to hang out with his best pal, Ace, and maybe with Penny tooâshe is a girl, but she has a great throwing arm. Then things get wild when a polar bear escapes from Milwaukeeâs city zoo and appears right on his block. Theyâre all going to have to keep their eyes open now.
But Nickâs grand plans start to crumble when Ace gets a paper route and Penny decides to share it with him. Now theyâre never around. Nick himself is working at his Uncle Spiroâs frozen custard shop, but at least he gets free all-you-can-eat dessert.
When Uncle Spiro opens a custard stand at the zoo, Nick volunteers to helpâif that polar bear escapes again, heâll have a front row seat! But their competitor, Happy Harold, opens a stand of his own right outside the zoo. Now Nick is scrambling to keep their customers, especially because Happy keeps playing dirty tricks. When Penny discovers that someone may have let the polar bear out on purpose, Nick suspects that Happy might be involved. With mysteries to solve and a whole zoo-full of monkey business, it looks like Nickâs summer wonât be so boring after all!