Bad Hair Day

October 15, 2012
Clifford B. Hicks’s immortal Alvin Fernald has a 21st-century analogue in Kate Grable, a “semi-reformed nerd” and medical buff who carries her own scalpels in a pink case. At age 17, she’s already a CNN celebrity, having helped to develop and then cure the so-called “zombie virus” in Harris’s Bad Taste in Boys (2011). With college applications in Kate’s sights, she is participating in a job-shadowing program at the local health department when her mentor, the county medical examiner, is arrested for murder, leaving Kate and a pathology assistant to keep the morgue running. It’s a busy place: mysterious attacks are occurring at a rapid clip, with only clumps of hair as evidence—and lots of it. With a deep background in CSI episodes and a stalwart quarterback for a boyfriend, however, there’s no need to fear—Kate can solve this mystery and get into a good premed program. It’s a lightweight but entirely enjoyable read; if not for the explicit crime scenes and occasional profanity, Kate’s smart-mouthed commentary and gory preoccupations would be right on target for younger readers. Ages 12–up. Agent: Kate Schafer Testerman, KT Literary.

October 15, 2012
Kate Grable can't catch a break. You'd think that a girl who'd invented a cure for the zombie virus less than a year ago would have earned the right to relax and enjoy her senior year, but there's no rest for this self-professed "semi-reformed nerd" and celebrity. This campy, often laugh-out-loud-funny follow-up to Bad Taste in Boys (2011) finds Kate once again in the position of having to save her friends, her high school and her town from a big, hairy someone (or something) that is on a kid-killing spree. Sure, it would be nice to enjoy some quiet time with her adorable jock boyfriend, but it's hard to ignore the bodies piling up in the morgue, where Kate is shadowing the town medical examiner as part of the Future Doctors of America program. When Dr. Burr is arrested for the murders and her best friend's boyfriend becomes a target, Kate uses her supersmarts to crack the case. Readers will get a kick out of this book that reads like a Wes Craven movie. The plot may be a little far-fetched, but the ride is so much fun it doesn't much matter. When characters respond to the possibility of a werewolf preying on their town with lines like "You don't understand....I'm Team Edward!" what's not to love? (Horror humor. 13 & up)

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December 1, 2012

Gr 7-10-In this sequel to Bad Taste in Boys (Delacorte, 2011), 17-year-old Kate Grable's confidence has shot way up. Not only did she cure the zombie virus that terrorized her town, but she also snagged popular quarterback Aaron as her boyfriend. When Kate joins the Future Doctors of America program, she gets an opportunity to work with the county medical examiner until he's arrested for murder. In an unlikely turn of events, she finds herself taking charge of the morgue. When one of her friends is attacked, Kate conducts her own investigation and discovers that it's not zombies she has to worry about this time, but something just as deadly. She has to autopsy dead bodies, solve a murder, chase down a monster, and keep a flirt from stealing her boyfriend. Kate combines the smarts of Veronica Mars with the attitude of Buffy. What the novel lacks in substance, it makes up for with Kate's unique, funny voice. She's fearless, likable, and everyone's go-to girl. At times both gory and completely over-the-top, Bad Hair Day is a fast-paced read sure to entice both male and female readers, and stands on its own.-Kimberly Garnick Giarratano, Rockaway Township Public Library, NJ

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