Stuart Gibbs
Stuart Gibbs | |
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 Gibbs at the 2019 Texas Book Festival | |
| Born | June 11, 1969 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S |
| Occupation | Author |
| Alma mater | University of Pennsylvania (BA) |
| Spouse | Suzanne Patmore Gibbs (2005–2018) |
| Signature | |
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| Website | |
| stuartgibbs | |
Stuart Gibbs (born June 11, 1969) is an American author who has written mostly mystery and humor books that are aimed for tweens and teens.
Gibbs' books have been described as "fun, fast-paced"[1] and "entertaining."[2] He has written six book series: the FunJungle series, the Moon Base Alpha series, the Spy School series, the Charlie Thorne series, the Last Musketeer and Once Upon a Tim. He also wrote a Batman comic called Bruce Wayne: Not Super. Gibbs wrote screenplays for Showdown (1993), See Spot Run (2001), and Repli-Kate (2002).
Personal life
[edit]Gibbs was born in 1969 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, moved to Washington, D.C. at five, and moved to San Antonio, Texas when he was seven.[3] He attended the University of Pennsylvania. While in college, he studied biology.[4]
Books
[edit]FunJungle series
[edit]The FunJungle series is about a boy named Theodore (Teddy) Fitzroy who lives with his family in the largest zoo in America, the (fictional) titular FunJungle. Teddy and his friends solve various mysteries that occur around the zoo, trying to watch out for people that will make his life harder, such as Marge O'Malley, a security guard, and the ever dubious billionaire owner of FunJungle, J.J. McCracken. As the series progresses, Teddy becomes friends with, and later starts dating, J.J.'s daughter Summer McCracken. Currently, Teddy has solved eight mysteries that revolve around a main zoo animal who is in danger.[5]
- Belly Up (2010) Henry, a hippo and FunJungle’s mascot, dies.
- Poached (2014) A koala goes missing from FunJungle. Focuses mainly on themes of endangered animals.
- Big Game (2015) A pregnant rhino that lives in FunJungle is shot at. Focuses on themes of poaching.
- Panda-monium (2017) A panda and a doctor goes missing while delivered to FunJungle. Focuses on Chinese-American relations and panda diplomacy.
- Lion Down (2019) A mountain lion is accused of killing a famous dog. Focuses on native animals affected by humans and habitat loss.
- Tyrannosaurus Wrecks (2020) A Tyrannosaurus Rex skull disappears. Focuses on reptiles in poor conditions at a bad zoo as well.
- Bear Bottom (2021) Taking place in and near Yellowstone National Park, Teddy investigates a lost necklace and missing bison. The main theme is about Native Americans and their relationship with bison.
- Whale Done (2023) After Teddy's house burns down, he goes with Summer and Candance (Summer's mom) to Malibu and investigates a dead blue whale with Doc. Focuses on pollution, depletion of resources, and sand theft.
Spy School series
[edit]In the Spy School series, twelve-year-old Benjamin "Ben" Ripley gets recruited to the top-secret CIA academy of espionage. He has several successful missions against the evil spy organization SPYDER with fellow spy Erica Hale whom he has devoloped feelings for.
Books:
- Spy School (2012) Benjamin Ripley is recruited initially as "bait" to catch a "mole" at the D.C. CIA Academy of Espionage, but ends up becoming a real spy due to his satisfactory achievement in his mission, where he stopped a bomb from exploding and killing top espionage leaders.
- Spy Camp (2013) In the second book in the series, Ben attends the CIA's 'summer camp' version of spy school. He meets his friend, Erica Hale,'s grandfather, Cyrus Hale, who was a highly successful spy in his early days and was still a top spy. SPYDER tries to recruit Benjamin, but he turns them down, escapes with Erica and Cyrus, and foils their evil plans again, stopping them from nuking Camp David (This is where many presidents and prime ministers of various countries meet). They also expose Erica's father, Alexander, as a fraud.
- Evil Spy School (2015) After being expelled (for blowing up the principals office) from the CIA's top-secret spy school, Ben enrolls in SPYDER's espionage academy, because Erica urges him, at their headquarters. He meets two new students there that might be able to save missiles from destroying bridges (and he has to make sure he doesn't fall in love with one of them). Joshua Hallal tricks him into doing complex mathematical problems to plan the missile strike on New York City. Later, he is saved from SPYDER by Erica and Cyrus and stops the missiles from hitting New York, but one is redirected to SPYDER's headquarters and Ben is nearly killed.
- Spy Ski School (2016) In the fourth book in the series, Ben, Erica, Cyrus, and several other students at the academy are sent to a ski resort in Vail, Colorado to keep tabs on Leo Shang, a Chinese billionaire who is at the resort. Ben befriends Shang's daughter, Jessica, and Erica reveals the affection she has for Ben that she has hidden under her icy personality. Ben finds out Shang's plan and stops a nuclear bomb from destroying a good part of Colorado. Ben also reveals to his best friend Mike that he is a spy.
- Spy School Secret Service (2017) After being assigned to befriend the President of the United States' son, Ben is planted with a bomb by SPYDER in an attempt to blow up the Oval Office and is framed for the explosion. He becomes a wanted criminal, but with help from Erica, Cyrus, and other Spy School students, they stop SPYDER from threatening the rest of the world with the USA's nuclear arsenal for money.
- Spy School Goes South (2018) In this book, Ben and Erica are sent to Aquarius, a beach resort on the Yucatan Peninsula, to follow SPYDER agent Murray Hill as he leads them to SPYDER's new headquarters. They find SPYDER is planning to nuke Antarctica, causing a rapid speed-up of global warming. Together Ben and Erica foil their plans and imprison some of their operatives. Ben is faced with the decision of if he wants to be with Zoe or Erica.
- Spy School British Invasion (2019) Taking place right after Spy School Goes South, Ben, Mike, Zoe, Alexander, and Erica, along with Erica's mom, Catherine Hale (who is in MI6), follow a lead-taking them to Mr. E, the supreme leader of SPYDER, in Paris, France. They figure out SPYDER's final plan and prevent it from taking place, as well as capture Mr. E, who turns out to be a former CIA operative, defeating SPYDER for good.
- Spy School Revolution (2020) After Erica appears to have switched sides, Ben is the only one who believes she is truly innocent, which pits him against his friends. Ben fights a centuries-old secret evil organization called the Croatoan as he tries to prove Erica's innocence and stop the Croatoan. [6]
- Spy School at Sea (2021) Ben, Mike, Erica, Catherine, and Alexander are sent to Nicaragua to find out what Murray Hill is up to. They pose as a family on a luxury cruise as they search for Murray.
- Spy School Project X (2022) Ben is forced to run as assassins and conspirators try to kill him; his goal is to capture Murray Hill. He has to fight off assassins and find where Murray Hill is to call off the hit. Murray doubles down and posts on a website called The Truth, telling conspiracy theorists that Ben was trying to take over the government as an alien from space.
- Spy School Goes North (2023) Ben is training in a top secret spy school in Alaska with only a few other kids. Then, Russians capture Cyrus Hale who has been teaching the kids. Ben has to figure out why the Russians captured Cyrus along with the help of friends Erica Hale, Zoe Zibbel, Mike Brezinski and the granddaughter of one of the Russians.
- Spy School Goes Wild (2024) Ben Ripley is recruited for a top secret mission to bring down his nemesis, Murray Hill, once and for all. But when things go horribly wrong, Ben ends up lost in an extremely dangerous wilderness with Murray—and confronting a new, devious enemy—with none of his friends to help him. Now, Ben must figure out how to survive and deduce what evil plan his new enemy is plotting in time to thwart it.
Graphic Novels
[edit]- Spy School the Graphic Novel (2022) Spy School adapted into a graphic novel.[7]
- Spy Camp the Graphic Novel (2023)[8] Spy Camp adapted into a graphic novel.
- Evil Spy School the Graphic Novel (2024) Evil Spy School adapted into a graphic novel.
- Bruce Wayne Not Super (2023) A version of Batman's origin story as well as other superheroes and supervillains. [9]
Moon Base Alpha series
[edit]The MBA series takes place in 2041 where 12-year-old Dashiell Gibson and his family are recruited to go to Moon Base Alpha, the first human lunar colony. In each book, Dashiell (nicknamed Dash) investigates dangerous occurrences.[10]
- Space Case (2014) Dr. Ronald Holtz, a scientist at MBA, mysteriously dies on the moon lunar surface. Dash and Kira attempt to uncover the killer and send them home on the next rocket back to Earth. Dash also meets an alien called Zan.
- Spaced Out (2016) The base commander, Nina Stack, goes missing, and Dash and Kira need to find Nina before the base falls into chaos.
- Waste of Space (2018) Lars Sjoberg, a trillionaire Tourism on the Moon lunar tourist, is poisoned in lutefisk. Dash and Kira must figure out who did it. MBA is declared unsafe due to a faulty oxygen generator, and they all are forced to evacuate back to Earth.The story ends with a fast-forward into about 2074·
The Last Musketeer series
[edit]The Last Musketeer series is about a boy named Greg who goes back in time to the time of the Three Musketeers to save his parents. Along the way, he completes other quests and adventures with the Three Musketeers: Athos, Porthos, and Aramis.
- The Last Musketeer (2011)
- Traitor's Chase (2012)
- Double Cross (2013)
Charlie Thorne series
[edit]The Charlie Thorne series is centered around a 12-year-old genius named Charlie Thorne, who competes against various adversaries to find dangerous discoveries hidden by distinguished individuals throughout history.
- Charlie Thorne and the Last Equation (2019) Charlie travels around the world to find Albert Einstein's last equation, Pandora.
- Charlie Thorne and the Lost City (2021) Charlie adventures to South America in search of Charles Darwin's lost treasure.
- Charlie Thorne and the Curse of Cleopatra (2022) Charlie explores ancient ruins across the world as she races to find Cleopatra's mysterious treasure.
- Charlie Thorne and the Royal Society (2024) Charlie searches for Isaac Newton's secret treasure across Europe and Australia.
Once Upon A Tim series
[edit]This series is about a Medieval peasant named Tim who tries to become a knight.[11]
- Once Upon A Tim (2022)
- Once Upon A Tim: The Labyrinth of Doom (2022)
- Once Upon A Tim: The Sea Of Terror (2023)
- Once Upon A Tim: The Quest of Danger (2023)
References
[edit]- ^ Tracy Moore. "Spy School". www.commonsensemedia.org. Common Sense Media Inc. Retrieved June 1, 2017.
- ^ "Spy Camp". Kirkus Reviews. Kirkus Media LLC. February 27, 2013. Retrieved June 1, 2017.
- ^ "FAQ | Stuart Gibbs". Retrieved 2021-01-15.
- ^ "David Stern and Stuart Gibbs, Writers | RealArts@Penn". web.sas.upenn.edu. Retrieved 2021-06-07.
- ^ "Funjungle". Simon & Schuster, Inc. October 2, 2018.
- ^ Spy School Revolution.
- ^ Gibbs, Stuart (2022-02-15). Spy School the Graphic Novel. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 978-1-5344-5542-9.
- ^ Gibbs, Stuart (2023-04-04). Spy Camp the Graphic Novel. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 978-1-5344-9937-9.
- ^ "Bruce Wayne: Not Super | Stuart Gibbs".
- ^ "'Space Case' and 'The Twin Powers'". The New York Times. Retrieved 2018-10-02.
- ^ Black, Michael Ian (2022-02-25). "Funny Genre-Bending Fiction From the Creators of 'Dragons Love Tacos' and the 'Spy School' Series". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-05-22.
