Zombie, Or Not to Be

August 1, 2020
There's something rotting in Deadmark, and it's not the zombies--it's a science-denial conspiracy! The humans of Ignorway destroyed the environment so badly that viruses ran rampant. One was a zombie virus, and eventually, the zombies abandoned the ruined land to create Deadmark, their rational, science-positive democracy. In this Hamlet-meets-zombies story, when Edda's mother, the elected Lead Scientist, mysteriously goes missing, Agonista, Edda's environmental lawbreaking businesswoman aunt, is selected to replace her. Greed-driven Agonista immediately starts dismantling sustainable energy sources in favor of oil. With the help of allies--vampire bat Bram, the enchanted floating skull Rick (of the Glob Theater)--Edda discovers her mother's dark, humanized fate. The heroes quickly stage a production of the scheme and watch for Agonista's guilty reactions. Adventurous twists and turns--exile, a naval battle, Zombies for the Ethical Treatment of Humans and their development of cruelty-free, lab-grown FeignBrain ("Make your next meal a no-brainer!")--go alongside puns and Shakespearian winks. The horror elements are so campy and over-the-top that, despite the brain-eating monsters, it's funny instead of scary. The resulting cartoonishness allows the story to get away with blunt moralizing without breaking the comedic tone, with the heavy-handedness played as part of the joke without undermining genuine messages. The zombies and Bram are shades of green; humans are racially ambiguous. A standing ovation for undead environmentalist theater. (Humor/Horror. 8-12)

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September 1, 2020
Grades 5-7 Following 2019's Hobgoblin and the Seven Stinkers of Rancidia (loosely based on Snow White) the Sullivan twins do serious damage to a more highbrow classic. There's something rotten in the state of Deadmark besides its all-zombie population, as young Edda's chief executive mom has been spirited away and replaced by her anti-science tycoon sister Agonista. Battling not only a ravening appetite for brains but severe mood swings that even put her at odds with her former BFF and science partner Nerida, Edda decides to call on a troupe of Play Things to put on a play called The Thing and check Agonista's reaction. This gets her packed off on a ship bound for the werewolves of Fangland, from which she is rescued by a fleet of live humans from neighboring, thoroughly polluted Ignorway. Readers will chortle at the gross details, the Beetlejuice-style illustrations, and (given at least some familiarity with Hamlet) the parodic twists. Despite the fact that most of the cast is dead, the only violence here is to the original.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.)

October 1, 2020

Gr 3-7-Zombies run amok in Deadmark. Protagonist Edda is a scientist who flees to Ignorway in pursuit of the virus that triggered a zombie outbreak. Shakespeare fans will recall Hamlet's first line-"Something is rotten in the state of Denmark"-then Hamlet fleeing to Norway. Similar allusions pepper the book-most notably, the title. Parallels with the coronavirus pandemic also emerge. Short-sighted greedy decisions damaged Ignorway's environment, and the degradation made an ideal home for the virus to flourish. The virus spreads rapidly, so zombies attack increasing numbers of humans to satisfy an insatiable appetite for brains. Edda and her two loyal friends tackle the virus and wipe out the zombies. Preventing future virus flare-ups is difficult because most Ignorwegians do not believe in science, so they will not commit to environmental cleanup. Among the hardliners is Edda's own Aunt Agnostia, who sabotages Edda's scientific work. In the end, Edda and her friends are able to control the zombie population, and they initiate environmental restoration. Fans of zombie novels will remember Max Brooks's World War Z, a readalike for its high caliber scientific background about how viruses spread, and the humanitarian complexities during a global pandemic. A global pandemic, environmental issues, and characters who do not believe in science are themes all too suitable for students seeking contemporary fiction to write about for class. VERDICT Highly recommended for a middle-grade collection that caters to fans of the paranormal genre. Middle graders hungry for the next zombie book will devour this one.-Amy Thurow, Westside Elem. Sch., Sun Prairie, WI

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