A spooky, scary, and satisfying horror story.
Two friends combat a zombie invasion in this middle-grade novel.
When Johnny wakes up for school one morning, he assumes it will be a normal day. Sure, he had a creepy dream the night before, but it was nothing that his mother couldn’t fix. The day starts out like any other—he gets on the bus; says hello to Ms. Eisenstein, the driver; and pinches his friend Alex, who is weirdly catatonic. At school, she drops the boys off, and everything is strangely desolate. That’s when Alex and Johnny see it—a grotesque humanoid monster, dripping green goo and searching for human flesh. It even consumes the basketball coach right in front of their eyes. Alex and Johnny find Ms. Eisenstein, who drives them into the woods to escape, but when she crashes the bus, they all think they’re goners. She disappears, and Alex and Johnny must concoct Plan B. Alex is soon taken by a zombie, but not before the boys find out that the monsters can be defeated by fire. Johnny tries to confront the zombie leader, who turns out to be Ms. Eisenstein. She’s plotting to erase the town of humans, but Johnny vows that he won’t let that happen. Can he defeat this plague of zombies and get his friends and family back? Shah’s (Bradley Boogers Slides Down the Nose Cave, 2016, etc.) tale is certainly imaginative, but it is definitely too gruesome for younger readers. With passages describing zombies eating Johnny’s friends and various townspeople, it’s sure to cause a nightmare or two. Luckily, for older kids, the work is a frightening delight. The author paints a wonderfully disgusting image of a zombie assault, and readers (especially horror fans) should enjoy the episodes of Johnny and Alex trying to avoid these subhuman creatures. The one caveat? The book would have been more intriguing if the zombies didn’t speak—they are particularly brainless creatures, and it’s more chilling if they don’t have ulterior motives for consuming a whole town of people. But overall, this spirited novel offers an engaging introduction (or return visit) to the world of horror—just get ready for young readers to start clamoring to watch The Walking Dead.
A spooky, scary, and satisfying horror story.Pub Date: July 12, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-943684-18-2
Page Count: 102
Publisher: 99 Pages or Less Publishing
Review Posted Online: July 28, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2016
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
What if the market was closed when you wanted to bake a pie? You could embark for Europe, learn Italian en route, and pick up some semolina wheat in Italy, an egg in France, kurundu bark for cinnamon in Sri Lanka, and an entire cow in England (butter) before coming home via Jamaica (sugar) and Vermont (apples). The expertly designed illustrations in which a dark-haired lass journeys by various means to these interesting places to get her groceries are lovely and lively, and the narrative, too, travels at a spritely pace. The journey is neither quite logical enough to be truly informative nor quite bizarre enough to be satisfyingly silly, while the rich, sweet recipe that's appended will take some adult assistance. Still, fun. (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: May 2, 1994
ISBN: 0-679-83705-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 1994
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift.
A paean to teachers and their surrogates everywhere.
This gentle ode to a teacher’s skill at inspiring, encouraging, and being a role model is spoken, presumably, from a child’s viewpoint. However, the voice could equally be that of an adult, because who can’t look back upon teachers or other early mentors who gave of themselves and offered their pupils so much? Indeed, some of the self-aware, self-assured expressions herein seem perhaps more realistic as uttered from one who’s already grown. Alternatively, readers won’t fail to note that this small book, illustrated with gentle soy-ink drawings and featuring an adult-child bear duo engaged in various sedentary and lively pursuits, could just as easily be about human parent- (or grandparent-) child pairs: some of the softly colored illustrations depict scenarios that are more likely to occur within a home and/or other family-oriented setting. Makes sense: aren’t parents and other close family members children’s first teachers? This duality suggests that the book might be best shared one-on-one between a nostalgic adult and a child who’s developed some self-confidence, having learned a thing or two from a parent, grandparent, older relative, or classroom instructor.
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-943200-08-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Compendium
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017
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