How to be a Zombie--Serena Valentino

Title: How to be a Zombie
Author: Serena Valentino
Publisher: Candlewick Press, 2010
Pages: 144
Source: VOYA, courtesy of the publisher
Compensation: None

Zombies have always been popular with a certain segment of the teen population. That popularity has increased recently due to the success of movies like “Zombieland” and the TV show “The Walking Dead.” Serena Valentino capitalizes on this attraction for the undead with a unique, funny, interesting guide for zombies. There have been books telling humans how to survive a zombie apocalypse, but this book is geared for the newly risen zombie instead and serves as the “Essential Guide for Anyone Who Craves Brains.” Valentino counsels the novice zombie on his origins, offers suggestions on finding fresh brains to eat, and gives advice on the latest fashions for the undead. She also lists the essential zombie books and movies for further information.

Even non-zombie fans will find Valentino’s book to be a fun and worthwhile read. The book is full of useful hilarious information. In the chapter “How to Pass as a Human,” Valentino warns that “Humans rarely lurch, moan, or bite each other, so you should cut back on these habits.” Colorful photographs of zombies are interspersed throughout the book adding to its visual appeal. Zombie fans will most likely want to buy their own copy, but libraries should have one as well. 

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Mercy--Rebecca Lim

Title: Mercy
Author: Rebecca Lim
Publisher: Hyperion, expected date 5/17/2011
Pages: 276, e-galley edition
Source: Netgalley, courtesy of the publisher.
Compensation: None

Written in the first person, Mercy tells the story of a lost angel stuck inhabiting the bodies of humans. Like the TV show Quantum Leap, Mercy solves some sort of problem for her human host before she can move on to another. She retains very little memory from one body to the next. She doesn't know what she is, only that she is different and lost and desperately wanting to go home.

In this particular story, Mercy inhabits a young girl attending a retreat for talented singers. She's staying in a house that used to be home to another young singer--before she was mysteriously abducted nearly a year before. Mercy must use her special divine skills to find the missing girl and catch her abductor, as well as teach herself how to sing and not mess up her host's chance at glory.

Mercy is an interesting story and a quick read, but not without its flaws. The line describing a man with a secret as having it "linger about him like a detectable odour, a familiar on his shoulder gnawing at his flesh" stands out not only for its wonderful description, but also because it is repeated four more times. It is unclear if there is a specific reason the author decided to repeat this phrase. Other than details like that, Mercy is an enjoyable story and will leave readers wanting to know more about its main character and whether or not she ever makes it back home. Hopefully those questions will be answered in the next books in the series.

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Bumped--Megan McCafferty

Title: Bumped
Author: Megan McCafferty
Publisher: HarperCollins/Balzer + Bray, expected release date April 26, 2011
Pages: 244 p.
Source: Netgalley, courtesy of the publisher
Compensation: None

Megan McCafferty's Bumped is a dystopian tale with a twist. There aren't zombies or natural disasters or government-sanctioned killing of children. But there's a lot of teen sex. A mysterious virus has wiped out the reproductive abilities of everyone over the age of 18. If our species is to survive, teenagers have to pick up the slack in the fertility business. This has caused a major rift in society. Half the population thinks teenagers should marry young and have babies young and fulfill "God's plans." The other half have taken baby-making to the flipside extreme and made it a profitable business. Teen girls are matched up with wealthy couples who want babies and are contracted to produce those babies ("deliveries" since the girls are dissuaded from using the word "baby"). The girls are then matched up with the most genetically attractive boys. Within this group there are the amateurs who have sex, get pregnant, and then look for a needy couple and the professionals who are contracted first and get paid lots of money. Getting pregnant is the coolest thing for teen girls to do but they have very little choice. Sex for pleasure is unheard of, protected sex is taboo if not downright outlawed, and girls who aren't interested in having babies are accused of being unpatriotic. At the heart of this story are two twin girls separated at birth. One belongs to the religious family camp and one is a professional surrogate. They are both secretly unhappy with the roles that were forced on them and looking for a way to break out.

McCafferty has written a funny, unique story of the control of teen sex taken to extremes. It's a quick light read on the surface, but so much more meaningful underneath. This is an excellent book discussion group selection. There are those out there that will totally miss the point and claim that McCafferty is glorifying or advocating teen sex. She's not. She's showing how dangerous it can be if we try to control too much and take choice entirely away from teenagers. They need to be a part of the decision making process too. Bumped is not about teen sex. The book barely even talks about the actual "act." It's all about the business and the outcome.

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I went to the 2011 Empire State Book Festival

I had the chance to go to the Empire State Book Festival yesterday. To sum up my day:

I hugged Laurie Halse Anderson
Talked to Rachel Cohn
Took a picture with Eric Luper
Met Julie Chibbaro
Developed a crush on Ned Vizzini (and added him to my TBR list.)

Pretty good day. If you want the full story with pictures, check out my examiner article.

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I'm an Amazon Associate now. If you click on the Amazon links & buy anything I might make a tiny bit of money.