SLIMED

Two kids enter a science contest and instead create slime that could take over the world.

White fourth grader Billy Hamilton hates school. He even got in trouble for saying his favorite part is leaving at the end of the day. But unless he wants to be a very old elementary schooler, he must bring up his scores and pass. Unfortunately, that means entering the TV show America’s Got Science competition with the most dedicated student he knows, African American Samantha Baptiste, the principal’s daughter. Not only does Sam love school, science is her favorite subject. The chance to meet her hero, Professor Quandary, the competition’s host, also fuels her drive to win. When Billy learns that his paternal grandmother, Mariana Hamilton, was a scientist, he and Sam use one of her old experiments for their entry. Unfortunately, chaos ensues when the simple slime turns grown-ups into zombies, or rather slimebies. Billy and Sam fight to put an end to the slimebie takeover threatening the science competition—and the town. Gray’s novel bursts with action and heart as Billy and Sam learn how to bridge their academic differences and combine their individual strengths in a refreshing twist on zombie apocalypse scenarios. As the kids take the forefront in the fight against the sentient slime, their actions transform the scientific method from a dry term in textbooks to an exhilarating adventure.

A high-stakes thrill ride.