Zombie

March 19, 2012
Jeremy Barker, a freshman at the Byron Hall Catholic High School for Boys in Baltimore, is obsessed with zombies, peppering references to his favorite zombie films throughout. Jeremy calls Byron Hall “prime zombie real estate” in part because of its ominous habitués, like eight-fingered teacher Mr. Rembrandt and fellow students Dirtbag Boy, Super Shy Kid, and the Plaids. Though rather prickly as a narrator, Jeremy is treated by the world as merely hapless. He lives by a zombie code, which includes “#3. Forget the Past,” a rule that grows in importance as Jeremy’s recently divorced parents begin behaving strangely. His Vietnam vet dad stays out all night, mysteriously. His mom has a new boyfriend and a pill habit. And his older brother is a sex addict. Will Jeremy go for the college girl he spies on through her window, or find love with his dream girl from Byron Hall’s sister school? Though Angelella’s debut novel crackles with energy and attitude, the plot is less compelling or coherent than it could be, and his whining 14-year-old hero may rub some readers the wrong way. Agent: Douglas Stewart, Sterling Lord Literistic.

May 1, 2012
Angelella creates a weird brew here, featuring an eight-fingered priest, pill and sex addicts, cultish rituals and the Byron Hall Catholic High School for Boys. Narrator Jeremy Barker is beginning his freshman year at Byron Hall, and it's fair to say he's obsessed with Zombie films. He can rattle off his Ten Best like nobody's business, and he's even created a personal code of conduct derived from his obsession (e.g., Avoid Eye Contact, Keep Quiet, Fight to Survive). In fact, the novel is so zombie-drenched that the titles of his favorite movies serve as chapter titles as well (the one exception being The Greatest Story Ever Told, which a priest has hooked Jeremy into by suggesting that Lazarus and Jesus might be the first zombies ever--think about it). Jeremy's home life is, to put it charitably, disordered, for his mother is addicted to pills (though she offers up a prayer before partaking), his older brother is addicted to sex, and his father turns most of their conversations into uncomfortable sexual innuendo. Jeremy's only love comes from his dog, whom Angelella, with irritating cuteness, names "Dog." Although Jeremy voyeuristically checks out his neighbor, a college student, and falls for Aimee, a student director at the local girls' Catholic school, his main preoccupation is figuring out what his father is up to, for Jeremy gets evidence that he's colluding with Mr. Rembrandt, an eight-fingered priest who just happens to be Jeremy's English teacher. All of the weirdness adds up to not very much, and Angelella has an irksome habit of nudging the reader in the ribs with his wit and cleverness.

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April 1, 2012

Jeremy Barker, 14, lives his life based on a code culled from his favorite zombie movies. This mental preparation allows him to cope with his real-world problems, like life at an all-boy Catholic high school, girls, and his parents' separation. When a dark secret that his father has been harboring comes to light, Jeremy tries to comprehend actual horrors, for which all the zombie movies in the world couldn't prepare him. This debut novel tries to walk a narrow tightrope as a bildungsroman that goes to very dark places. There are a number of potentially compelling characters, all of whom could have been protagonists of their own novels; however, the author crams in too many and does not have the space to develop most beyond a collection of quirks. VERDICT In addition to underdeveloped characters, the narrative bogs down under its own weight before picking up the tempo for a breakneck finale. Despite the lack of actual undead, fans of zombie movies and literature will enjoy Jeremy as a protagonist and appreciate the attention that the author lavishes on the genre.--Pete Petruski, Cumberland Cty. Lib. Syst., Carlisle, PA

Copyright 2012 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 1, 2012
With a title like this, and section headings borrowed from famous zombie flicks, readers might be expecting, you know, zombies. Instead, Angelella turns in an affecting portrait of a teenager increasingly divorced from his emotions while in the background churning up an ever-more-sickening subplot. Jeremy, 14, sees the world through zombie movies, perhaps as respite from a family that includes a distant, sex-addict brother; a numb, pill-popping mom; and a Vietnam vet father who disappears every single night. Up to this point, Angelella steers his character study faithfully, if prosaically, and with an excess of Chuck Palahniuk attitude. Then Jeremy discovers in his dad's study a DVD titled Sublimation, which seems to show a crowd of people watching a man being prepped for black-market surgery. That's when Angelella comes alive, and the darker the book gets as it follows Jeremy's investigation, the stronger it becomes, and the final 30 pages are a breathless, white-knuckle experiment in pure terror. Unevenalbeit by designbut undoubtedly intriguing.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)