a good book.

Gravediggers: Mountain of Bones
Author: Christopher Krovatin
Pages: 323
Age Range: 10-14
Published: 2012
Genre: Sci-fi/Horror
Cover Score: ***
Overall Score: ***
Rating: PG

Beware of the zombie apocalypse! Zombies are taking over the world and a tiny part of me is content to be along for the ride. I think my real foray into the genre started when I read The Forest of Hands and Teeth when it first came out a few years ago. (Though I may or may not have participated in a few late night viewings of The Evil Dead movies in college.) I saw this movie a couple of weeks ago and was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed it (though it's obviously not your traditional zombie tale.) And I'm more than a little excited to watch Brad Pitt take on the masses in this movie this summer. But I'm not a giant fan of gore so I much prefer to read about the undead than to watch them writhe and stumble about on screen.

Kids of course want to jump on the bandwagon of whatever trend happens to be enticing their older brothers and sisters but there are very few true paranormal and quality (sorry RL Stine) horror books for middle readers (and obviously even less for the young crowd.)  So I was thrilled to come across this book in our library's new orders recently.

A school group is headed to the wilds of Montana for their Homeroom Earth experience, learning all about wilderness and survival. Little do they know that in a few short hours they'll be literally running for their lives.

Three of the kids are lured into the forest following a huge buck and are soon lost. At first they don't panic. Kendra, the brain, has a map and compass and knows she can figure out a way back. PJ has a backpack full of food and other supplies thanks to his paranoid parents while Ian has more than enough confidence for the three of them. But the woods hold a deadly secret. Groups of campers and wanderers have been disappearing for years. Last year's Homeroom Earth was cancelled because the Pine City Dancers vanished the year before...or so the urban legend says.

First they hear noises, then the compass stops working and then there's the feeling of being watched. They seek shelter in an abandoned cabin only to find that the basement is filled with bones and a diary belonging to one of the lost dancers. It's no legend after all and their paranoia in the woods wasn't their imagination. The forest is 'alive' with the un-dead!

Things get even stranger when they run into an old woman who claims to be the Warden set to protect the land and keep the zombies in check but the kids have unwittingly broken her charms and she can no longer do it alone. They band together to survive and protect the rest of their friends who are still at camp and oblivious.  There is a satisfying, and age appropriately positive ending but we also have the kids being marked as 'gravediggers', zombie killers who help keep the balance but were disbanded years ago, which foreshadows the promise of a sequel.

This is exactly the kind of book that would have had me reading under the covers with a flashlight as a kid.  And the the kind of book that would have had me sleeping with that flashlight for the next week in an effort to keep the nightmares at bay. It's creepy and atmospheric. There's gore (I mean there is rotting flesh and walking dead and all) but it's not too over the top and while there's a good deal of peril there's not much in the way of actual violence so you can feel pretty comfortable in handing it off to most kids.


Looking for more kid-friendly zombie fare?  Try Zombiekins, Zombie in Love, or Paranorman.  Have a slightly older crowd? Give Pride and Prejudice and Zombies,  Rot and Ruin  or  I Kissed a Zombie and I Liked It a go. (I can't vouch for the quality of these last two as I haven't read them myself, but they are on my TBR list so if anyone else has read them let me know if I should bump them up to the top!)

Happiness is...a good book. (Summer Reading edition #34)

The Dark and Hollow Places
Author: Carrie Ryan
Pages: 374
Age Range: 13+
Published: 2011
Genre: Sci-fi/dystopia
Cover Score: *** 
Overall Grade: ****
Rating: PG-13 (gruesome violence, some language)

This is the third in a trilogy so whil I will try not to give away any major plot points I can’t guarantee there won’t be spoilers for the first two; The Forest of Hands and Teeth and The Dead-Tossed Waves.

Annah lives in New York City, 150 or so years after the Return (the infection that causes the dead to rise again and walk the earth hunting for human flesh…yes, zombies!) Society has dwindled to a few pockets of the living struggling to keep barriers between themselves and the Unconsecrated (the zombies) but the numbers are so great that most of them have fallen and the last great stronghold, the Dark City, is on the verge of falling as well. She’s been trying to make ends meet and take care of herself since being abandoned by Elias (her pseudo brother) who joined the Recruiters three years earlier. She’s resentful of him and still harboring guilty feelings for not having done more to help her sister Abigail escape the forest when they were children.

As she’s making her way out of the city though she spots a girl on the bridge, her sister she’s sure of it. And then she meets Catcher. He’s got some secrets and regrets of his own but he knows all about Annah and Elias and Abigail, now known as Gabry. He’s promised to look after Annah but Annah’s not sure she trusts him.

Eventually they find themselves on the Sanctuary, a small island run by the Recruiters and the only place left not overrun by the Unconsecrated. Elias and Gabry are there as well and together the four of them uncover their twisted and intertwining paths and begin to forge new relationships together.

Elias thinks he’s done right by everyone, protecting them by leading them all to the Sanctuary, but the remaining Recruiters are cruel and merciless, torturing the helpless for sport, using anyone they can (Catcher in particular who has an immunity to the virus and can walk undetected among the Unconsecrated) to ferry back and forth between the two worlds to gather food and forcing the Soulers (a fanatic religious group that believes the dead who Return have found the elect resurrection and are somehow pure) to patrol the beaches around the building.

The four must learn to trust each other (Annah in particular who feels abandoned and betrayed by them all) and find a way off of the island and hopefully to a place where they can start again (though the maps and plans show that most of the world is overrun.) Annah is also dealing with her many scars (physical and emotional) that keep her from trusting or allowing herself to be loved.

They are forced to make one major decision after another and answer some life-altering questions: what does it mean to live? Is existence the same as life? Who has it better, those who are aware and continually suffering and in fear or the Undead who eternally exist (until someone chops off their heads) and have no memories, pains or emotions? What would you do if you knew you only had a few days left to live? Which fears are justifiable? When is it okay to give up?

I didn’t find myself as engrossed in this one as I did the other two. I think I got a little bored with Annah’s insecurities. She’s in a struggle for her life and yet she’s constantly worried about her scars (though they are extensive) and if the men in her life will find her attractive. I’m not sure how realistic that would be. Sure she’d want to be desirable, she’s human after all, but she spent a lot of time dwelling on it, and dwelling on it, and dwelling on it. But it was still a thrilling and basically non-stop ride. And it’s a satisfying conclusion to the series; questions are answered and characters are tied together and there’s a bit of hope though not a truly happy ending (true to the incredible and comprehensive world built by Ms. Ryan.)

Full of gore and violence and decapitations it’s also a story of love and forgiveness. There is proof that even in the most horrid of conditions and potential futures one can still make choices and many choose to cling to humanity and kindness. If you’re a fan of post-apocalyptic fiction, dystopias, or zombies or are looking for something a little different, give it a look-see. I think you’ll like it!