A well-developed, entertaining tale about friendship and zombies.
In Abed’s middle-grade novel, only two young people in the town of Spinachi have survived a zombie outbreak—now, they need to figure out why.
Thirteen-year-old Felix Fizzystyxx is an aspiring naturalist living in the Wayward-Amok Orphanage in the town of Spinachi. He’s often alone, jotting down his observations in a field notebook and avoiding the bully Gilly Guttlerot and his cronies. Felix avoids confrontation; the one time he stood up for someone resulted in him getting punched in the jaw. But one night in October, Felix discovers some strange, green, glowing goo in the orphanage’s hallways and hears slow, dragging footsteps. Before he can investigate, he’s approached by a Wayward-Amok resident whom he’s never seen before: Nina “Ninja” Nettiwiggs, who’s adept at sneaking around completely unnoticed and prefers to be alone. Ninja hasn’t seen any mysterious goo, but she does sense that something is environmentally off. Soon, the teens discover that nearly everyone in the orphanage, from the kids to the adult staff, have turned into zombies with glowing green eyes and an insatiable hunger—not for brains, but for wood. The pair run away to the home of Ninja’s friend, the elderly, eccentric farmer Doc Brunne, who might be able to help. But the entire town of Spinachi seems to have been zombified. Pushing past her solitary mentality, Ninja teams up with Doc Brunne and Felix to figure out the cause of the outbreak, how to fix it, and why they weren’t turned into zombies, too. Abed delivers a fast-paced and action-packed tale about investigation, problem-solving, and connection, told through Felix’s and Ninja’s perspectives, with each chapter seamlessly alternating between the two. Both protagonists are smart and easy to root for; readers will thoroughly enjoy their character development and growth as they form a bond. In addition to compelling characters, the book features an interesting scientific exploration of the zombie outbreak, suspenseful moments, and comedy relief: “I’m not entirely sure ‘zombies’ is the correct terminology,” Doc says, “Perhaps we should call them ‘enthusiastic connoisseurs of cellulosic substrates’?”
A well-developed, entertaining tale about friendship and zombies.Pub Date: Sept. 15, 2026
ISBN: 9798995281306
Page Count: 244
Publisher: Oculus Print
Review Posted Online: June 5, 2026
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Is this the end? Well, no…the series will stagger on through at least one more scheduled sequel.
Sure signs that the creative wells are running dry at last, the Captain’s ninth, overstuffed outing both recycles a villain (see Book 4) and offers trendy anti-bullying wish fulfillment.
Not that there aren’t pranks and envelope-pushing quips aplenty. To start, in an alternate ending to the previous episode, Principal Krupp ends up in prison (“…a lot like being a student at Jerome Horwitz Elementary School, except that the prison had better funding”). There, he witnesses fellow inmate Tippy Tinkletrousers (aka Professor Poopypants) escape in a giant Robo-Suit (later reduced to time-traveling trousers). The villain sets off after George and Harold, who are in juvie (“not much different from our old school…except that they have library books here.”). Cut to five years previous, in a prequel to the whole series. George and Harold link up in kindergarten to reduce a quartet of vicious bullies to giggling insanity with a relentless series of pranks involving shaving cream, spiders, effeminate spoof text messages and friendship bracelets. Pilkey tucks both topical jokes and bathroom humor into the cartoon art, and ups the narrative’s lexical ante with terms like “pharmaceuticals” and “theatrical flair.” Unfortunately, the bullies’ sad fates force Krupp to resign, so he’s not around to save the Earth from being destroyed later on by Talking Toilets and other invaders…
Is this the end? Well, no…the series will stagger on through at least one more scheduled sequel. (Fantasy. 10-12)Pub Date: Aug. 28, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-545-17534-0
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: June 19, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2012
An absorbing fantasy centered on a resilient female protagonist facing growth, change, and self-empowerment.
In Florence’s middle-grade fantasy novel, a young girl’s heart is tested in the face of an evil, spreading Darkness.
Eleven-year-old Lydia, “freckle-cheeked and round-eyed, with hair the color of pine bark and fair skin,” is struggling with the knowledge that she has reached the age to apprentice as an herbalist. Lydia is reluctant to leave her beloved, magical Mulberry Glen and her cozy Housetree in the woods—she’ll miss Garder, the Glen’s respected philosopher; her fairy guardian Pit; her human friend Livy; and even the mischievous part-elf, part-imp, part-human twins Zale and Zamilla. But the twins go missing after hearing of a soul-sapping Darkness that has swallowed a forest and is creeping into minds and engulfing entire towns. They have secretly left to find a rare fruit that, it is said, will stop the Darkness if thrown into the heart of the mountain that rises out of the lethal forest. Lydia follows, determined to find the twins before they, too, fall victim to the Darkness. During her journey, accompanied by new friends, she gradually realizes that she herself has a dangerous role to play in the quest to stop the Darkness. In this well-crafted fantasy, Florence skillfully equates the physical manifestation of Darkness with the feelings of insecurity and powerlessness that Lydia first struggles with when thinking of leaving the Glen. Such negative thoughts grow more intrusive the closer she and her friends come to the Darkness—and to Lydia’s ultimate, powerfully rendered test of character, which leads to a satisfyingly realistic, not quite happily-ever-after ending. Highlights include a delightfully haunting, reality-shifting library and a deft sprinkling of Latin throughout the text; Pit’s pet name for Lydia is mea flosculus (“my little flower”). Fine-lined ink drawings introducing each chapter add a pleasing visual element to this well-grounded fairy tale.
An absorbing fantasy centered on a resilient female protagonist facing growth, change, and self-empowerment.Pub Date: Jan. 7, 2025
ISBN: 9781956393095
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Waxwing Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 14, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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