Monday Mention: Zomboy

Zomboy

by Richard Scrimger

Bob and Evil-O have been friends forever and puberty is not the only thing making their friendship questionable. Imre, a new boy in school, catches the eye of Evil-O. Bob finds Imre weird, gross, cold, and just odd. Well he has a good reason to. After a piano falls on Imre and not a scratch is left on him, the school soon finds out Imre is a survivor from some nuclear something or other and now he is a zombie....or rather zomboy. The school becomes a battle ground for protesters to support Imre or get the undead kid out of there and Imre even runs for class president. But something else is going on that Bob is noticing. Imre is keeping a secret. A secret that could wreck the town if it ever got out.

First off Bob is hilarious. He is kind of a coward, accident prone, and pretty honest as well. Bob as the narrator is what makes the novel. Imre is a little strange beside being a zombie boy and Evil-O is just a chillaxin' girl that believes in everyone. She also has an arch nemesis Susan. Their banter is hilarious! The story is intriguing but I was getting skeptical as to where it was all going and then finally in those last chapters you find out Imre's secret and all the testing and the doctors that Imre has been dealing with. Makes a really exciting ending that I actually didn't see coming. By no means did this book feel really childish like some other junior or elementary books. I kept forgetting these characters weren't in high school.

4 out of 5 monkey brains

Monday Mention: Zombie Elementary: The Real Story

Zombie Elementary: The Real Story
by Howard Whitehouse

Larry Mullet is your typical fourth grader. He's not the biggest kid or the smartest kid or the best looking kid. He rides his bike, plays baseball, takes the school bus, avoids cafeteria food, and--oh yeah, he's a zombie hunting expert. Larry was just doing his usual thing when Alex Bates from Ms Hoag's class tried to eat him. Sadly, that was only the beginning. - Goodreads

While being cute and easy to read for most kids, this story could have used a bit more zombie dialogue than the redundancy of "BRAAAAIIINS" and "AAAAAARGNNNNNN". I did enjoy how the story was set up. Larry is doing a Tell All file to a buddy named Kyle about zombies coming to school, how they got rid of them, and how no adults really seemed to take notice. I enjoyed a character called Chucky and his Grandma since they were kooky and all hillbilly. There was just enough gore like heads being hit off bodies and missing legs but no blood or guts type of gore. It was good for what type of audience this is intended for. I just had such struggles with that redundant zombie noise and how Larry kept trying to explain metaphors or ask if something was a word. It was like the author was trying too hard. 

The research, aka movie watching, Larry was doing seemed like content beyond his age and too mature to watch alone. As much as I love zombie flicks, kids should not watch 28 Days Later or WWZ, Resident Evil or Shaun of the Dead.
I thought the layout of the book worked great with a back and forth narrating to a script like dialogue by Larry and the interviewer. Also "Zombie Tips" are thrown through out the book which are both zany and helpful.

2 out of 5 monkey brains

Monday Mention: Good Night, Zombie (Scary Tales #3)

Good Night, Zombie (Scary Tales #3)

by James Preller, Iacopo Bruno (Illustrations)

Welcome. Have a seat. Ignore the shambling undead outside. Let us tell you a story. But be warned. Good Night, Zombie isn’t just any tale. This is a Scary Tale. - Goodreads

For young children this tale has such a spooky feel to it. Any school after hours always feels strange and scary with the dark, quiet halls. Now throw in an old man spouting tales about curses and phrasing like "They are coming" and no one will feel comfortable. These three unknown children end up creating a bond as they go through an evening of black crows and zombies surrounding the school, a creepy old janitor they have never seen before, and a having their memory wiped of it. With little character build but a fast moving plot, this little tale would have been great until the very end where it got cheesy and the author reiterated the experience in a closing paragraph. Besides that it was still a great read for young kids looking to be scared shitless. 

3 out of 5 monkey brains

Finally! Cooties to be afraid of

All our kid life we think other little grubby kids in our class, especially of the opposite sex, have cooties. Ew! Gross! Right? Well in the trailer of Cooties, starring Elijah Wood, Rainn Wilson, Alison Pill, and Jack McBrayer, we now have a cootie problem that will condemn those below the puberty line to the walking dead.



As if teachers didn't take enough flak with snot nosed little pukes (I honestly do like kids. I swear), but now they have to save those from prepubescent zombies. 
Out September 18th. Going back to work in the fall cannot come fast enough!
Wait..it can. 
 Also, how good looking is Elijah Wood still? 

Welcome to my World

Besides being a zombie enthusiast or a unicorn tamer, I am a Library Technician for one of the local school divisions in my city. Part of my job that I love being able to do is decorate our library and being involved with activities....and scaring children. JK!

Since I love me some zombies I have pushed the whole zombie awareness month to our students (come to the dark side!!) and so glad at the response and involvement! I want to share with you now some photos of displays, crafts, and my home away from home :)

 Today in fact we did a craft with the Grade 3-5s, some younger and older students as well, and the craft was to create zombie rocks. I got the idea here but with some collaboration came up with putting googly eyes on to speed up the process and all the rocks were painted ahead of time. Kids just had to pick a rock, draw on what they wanted it to look like, then glue some eyes and paint on some white.  The one to the left is my example kids had to follow.
I know...I'm a true Picasso.  

 Some of the wee ones were given the option to draw themselves as zombies from this template. I even provided a sample again. SO proud of how these turned out. 

 My lovely and most awesomest Teacher Librarian, friend, and co-worker pumped out these zombies shambling their way into our YA section. READ BOOKS! Creates good brains!

 I know it is all tiny but if you look close I added some cute zombies to my children's display. Nothing like zombies frolicking in the flowers and butterflies to bring a smile to your face.

 Our zombie rocks this afternoon are now displayed in the Zombie Awareness display. SO adorbs! Some kids got a little crazy with the white paint but truly impressed how these look.

Mine is in the middle facing out :)

This is just the display as a whole. To make kids really think about survival rather than brain eating corpses, I promoted the survivalist approach in the display and I'm hoping I didn't cause any nightmares this month, besides my own after seeing some of the kids' art.

I think it is really important to get kids talking about survival in any instant, to promote some crafting, get kids reading, use their imagination and to freakin have some fun in the whole process.

Mission complete.

Monday Mention: My Big Fat Zombie Goldfish (My Big Fat Zombie Goldfish #1)

My Big Fat Zombie Goldfish (My Big Fat Zombie Goldfish #1)
by Mo O'Hara

When Tom’s big brother decides to become an Evil Scientist, his first experiment involves dunking Frankie the goldfish into toxic green gunk. Tom knows that there is only one thing to do: Zap the fish with a battery and bring him back to life! But there’s something weird about the new Frankie. He’s now a BIG FAT ZOMBIE GOLDFISH with hypnotic powers . . . and he’s out for revenge! - Goodreads

Really this is a juvenile book and it can be read in a day. And if you like reading about fish to your kids or students...well think again.

SO won't be reading the rest of the series. I understand the novel is for elementary kids (I work in a library), and I have no problems checking out what kids are reading, but I really won't be recommending this to anyone. I found too many things that irked me and normally I can move past those and still see a cute read, but not in this one. 
First this book is really like 2 small books into one. That threw me off but I did enjoy the second part better....If I had to choose. 

Second, the word "moron" was overly used which made me feel like I was being verbally abused and that is basically what the older brother(s) were doing to the main character and his friend on top of being dickhole older siblings. Plus be creative with your wording. Repetition makes for a really dull read, even if it is a kids' book.

Third, this "zombie" might be one of the worst zombie concepts I have come across and I have read a lot of smack out there. The zombie goldfish was atleast dead at one point and like Frankensteined back to life BUT basically the fish liked moldy green things to eat, could hypnotize people, and understood humans and was personified quite a lot. Other than the moldy eating and having died at one time, I don't know how this was a zombie.....And why he was called fat. NO FAT SHAMING!
The main character also did too much of explaining himself after he did something. Example, he high-fived his friend and then explained why he thought it was a good time to high-five. Pretty sure those things shouldn't need explaining. What was cute was the misunderstanding of words like perpetrator he thought was PURPLE-TRAITOR. Adorbs! I did enjoy the second story since it was less...mean, I guess. Not too many "moron"s but still overly used. 
No kid besides those in like grade 4 or below should read this so it makes me sad I have seen grade 5 and 6 students take this out and I know their reading levels are higher. This novel doesn't challenge them enough. 

Done rant. 

2 out of 5 monkey brains

Don't have a Zombie Man: Zombie Simpsons

I play lame little games on my tablet everyday and one that I keep up with is The Simpsons: Tapped Out. I grew up with watching them, quoting Bart, and even through out my life someone can always bring something back to this ever running show.
The Simpsons is one show that does a really great job at Halloween episodes. Treehouse Horror has even showcased an episode with zombies in 1992 named "Dial Z for Zombies". Man I was in kindergarten then! This show is old! So it is no wonder DeviantArt danosborne has created some wicked zombie Simpson art. 
I am digging the detailed hairiness of Otto here to the left. Feel Otto just kinda is a zombie with him being all mellow most of the time. 

Argck! Groundskeeper Willie

Edna Krabapple

Krusty the Clown

Monday Mention: Dead Guy Spy (Nathan Abercrombie, Accidental Zombie #2)

Dead Guy Spy (Nathan Abercrombie, Accidental Zombie #2)

 

by David Lubar

*SPOILERS*
So Nathan is still a zombie and he just wants to do something great with his zombie powers, but he learns he needs to be careful since someone could be watching him and someone is. Kinda weird!

Nathan gets stalked which sounded waaay too much like pedophilia territory with creepy guys with mustaches lurking in bushes, late night chatrooms, secret meetings in cars and on street corners... Ya no idea why that was all like that. Totally not a Stranger Danger moment at all... Nevertheless, a corporation called BUM (teehee) wants Nathan to work for them and in return he will get his bones made stronger which is much needed with a wrestling match coming up with the scariest and toughest kid. 

Does Nathan get molested? No. 

Does his zombie life get more complicated? In a way.

Which bones will he break now? Read and find out. 

3 out of 5 monkey brains

Monday Mention: Attack of the Shark-Headed Zombie

Attack of the Shark-Headed Zombie (Stepping Stones)
 

by Bill Doyle (Goodreads Author), Scott Altman (Illustrator)

 

After Keats and Henry lose their bikes, they need money—fast. The help-wanted ad at the supermarket seems ideal for them. All they have to do is weed Hallway House's garden, find some lightbulbs in the attic, sweep the garage and battle a shark-headed zombie...? 

 - Goodreads

This was actually pretty cute and magical. Boys had to go through a lot to earn some cash. Shows some responsibility. What I don't know is why its a shark-headed zombie. Of course the title made me attracted to this gem when it came across my work desk. The shark was just a shark zombie or zombie shark, whatever way you want to say it. The title makes it sound like its a zombie aka human with a shark head. It looked like a shark, swam like a shark, flopped like a shark, so it was a shark turned zombie. Plain and simple. So weird. It could swim through ground too. 

3 out of 5 monkey brains

Monday Mention: Pat the Zombie: A Cruel (Adult) Spoof

Pat the Zombie: A Cruel (Adult) Spoof 

by Aaron Ximm, Kaveh Soofi (Illustrator)

A macabre mash-up of the children’s classic Pat the Bunny and the present-day zombie phenomenon, with the tactile features of the original book revoltingly re-imagined for an adult audience. - Goodreads

While the classic presented kids the experience of a touch and feel enhanced reading experience, all I experienced was a face ache from the frowned expression I had reading this. I'm glad I never bought this book. Instead I went to the book store and read it there. It wasn't even worth the listed 5 bucks. While it was a semi good parody and had the interactive elements, the book was flimsy and nothing at all like the board book version it parodies. They should have made it feel like the original board book to be more authentic. That was the whole experience! Sturdy book to drool on. And drooling I might have done if I was stunned with greatness this book could have had. Good effort I guess. 

 

2 out of 5 monkey brains