Bad Taste in Boys

June 15, 2011

A geeky girl gets the guy in this comic romp through a high school infested with zombies.

Kate, who owns underpants printed with "I heart Science," desperately wants to become a doctor, and she's the student medical assistant for her school's perpetually losing football team. She develops dark suspicions when she sees unmarked drug vials in the coach's office, especially when Coach injects the players with his mystery medication. In short order, Mike, one of the players, apparently dies but lurches to life again and bites a chunk out of Kate's lip. Harris draws on a wealth of zombie clichés as Kate watches the infection spread rapidly. Worse, the now-zombie coach attacks her even after his foot falls off, and her annoying but loyal little brother shows unmistakable zombie symptoms. But why hasn't Kate succumbed? Can she find a cure? Meanwhile, Aaron, her secret heartthrob, confesses his love because of her brains (although Mike would like to eat Kate's brains). But can the mad science teacher derail Kate's medical-school dreams? And can Kate get the local health department to listen? Throughout, the author keeps the focus on laughs as Kate speeds through car crashes, tries to keep her dog from eating the coach's foot and chases zombies as she wields syringes like six-shooters.

(COPYRIGHT (2011) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

October 1, 2011

Gr 7-10-Kate Grable is a scientific genius who helps train the school's football team. When she discovers suspicious vials in the coach's office, she assumes that he is trying to improve the team's performance with steroids. Then members of the team develop mysterious, violent symptoms-one of them even bites Kate-and she learns that the coach has been giving them injections of a zombie virus that spreads mainly through being bitten. She soon falls prey to the infected, which become extraordinarily violent, yet humorous, as fingers and feet start to fall off the victims as the disease runs its course. Being an epileptic, she soon discovers that the only cure for the virus is her own medicine. With the help of her longtime crush and goofy brother and his pseudo-sword, Kate manages to restore order. Teens will admire how Kate uses her brains to win the hearts of her male classmates. The plot moves along quickly, making readers feel as if they were watching an actual zombie movie. The short chapters are filled with light humor along with a silly, gory edge that will make readers laugh, rather than cringe.-Krista Welz, North Bergen Public Library, NJ

Copyright 2011 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.