Zombie Pick: Red Hill

Red Hill
by Jamie McGuire
Atria
2013
356 pages

Utterly enjoyable, unputdownable, and hugely entertaining, Red Hill is an adult zombie book that you can really sink your teeth into! (pun intended)



Scarlet drops off her daughters at school and heads to her job at the hospital. She had no way of knowing if she would ever see them again. Suddenly, the hospital is overrun with sick people. The news reports begin coming in from all over the world. There is an outbreak of some kind and the infected are contagious. Scarlet knows enough to flee the hospital and try to find her girls.

Nathan flees the city with his young daughter Zoe. Sisters Miranda and Ashley are supposed to meet their dad at their country getaway, Red Hill. They grab their boyfriends and head to the countryside encountering hordes of sick "people."

Scarlet prays that her girls will remember the Red Hill location where she did some cleaning for a doctor at work. The girls made up a song about the directions, so she's banking on the fact that they will remember that song. Joey, just back from Afghanistan, joins Miranda, Ashley, Bryce and Cooper as they all head for sanctuary.

Can a group of strangers work together to survive the zombie outbreak? Will Scarlet ever find her daughters again? Will romance blossom amid terror?


Recommended for mature readers high school and up. Language, mature situations, zombie gore and guts.

FTC Required Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. I did not receive monetary compensation for this review.

Zombie Invasion (in Fort Worth!)

                                                                       author Ilsa J. Bick

I attended the Texas Library Association conference in Fort Worth April 23-27 and had a great time! So many authors and books. So many old and new friends! I kept track of the experiences in my Iphone and am sharing the first one now:

From Ilsa Bick, author of the Ashes trilogy. Her new book Monsters, the third and last in the trilogy is available this September. I was lucky enough to share breakfast with Ilsa, a few fellow Texas librarians including my bff's YA blogger Naomi and Katie and Allison from Egmont.


The conversation was fascinating! We talked about writing fiction and zombies, we talked about "The Walking Dead" and "Breaking Bad." We asked questions about fiction and the zombie apocalypse. I asked  Ilsa how she is able to plan/plot her story. She uses a story board or outline, she said. She also told us that she knew how the story ends, BUT...and this is a big but, sometimes the characters lead an author in a different direction.

Ilsa asked librarians about our jobs and what we felt. The consensus was that all of us LOVE our kids/patrons. We LOVE our libraries and books. The conversation made Ilsa reminisce. She told us this story:

When she was in grade school, she visited her library many times, often checking out a book on stargazing. She wanted to be able to identify the constellations and stars, and would take the book outside and stare at the night sky.  She checked the book out again and again and on the last day of school, the librarian handed her the book. The librarian told her that since she clearly loved the book, she should have it as a gift from the library. Ilsa took that book home that day, cherishing it and keeping it safe. She still owns that stargazing book after 30+ years! Ilsa said something like this: That was a long time ago....but I still have that book...that librarian....well, she's dead by now!

Gasps from around the table! Nervous laughter....Ilsa sees our faces and laughs. She said, "What...did you think the story was going to have a happy ending?" From a writer who ends the world with a zombie apocalypse? I thoroughly enjoyed Ilsa's wit and wisdom.


Another Ilsa funny moment: When she met a certain publisher who shall remain nameless here, Ilsa reportedly said, "Oh, xxxx (name withdrawn) don't worry, you would be the first to die in a zombie apocalypse!" The publisher was shocked but amused!

Who would be the first person you know to die in the zombie apocalypse? Post your comments on the blog. The five best comments (keep them clean, please) will win a fantastic prize! Deadline for posts is: May 20 at noon MST.

For more on Ilsa J. Bick, her experiences in Fort Worth, a story of a fox and her kits versus a mean neighbor, and writing...read more

Zombie Pick: Undead

Undead
by Kirsty McKay
Chicken House (Scholastic)
2012
272 pages

Freakishly fun, bizarrely brazen, and monstrously macabre, Undead is a real zombie laugh riot! Don’t start this book unless you plan to stay up all night finishing it! Undead is the most fun I’ve had since last year’s funny zombie novel Bad Taste in Boys.

A bus full of kids returning from a ski trip stops for lunch along the road. Bobby hates the weather, hates her school mates, hates the trip and, moreover, hates changing schools and countries yet again. Her mother’s job has brought them to Scotland, where the weather sucks. She’s just over it. No one can blame her when she stays behind on the bus skipping lunch.

The chaperone tells Smitty to stay on the bus, too. One minute their classmates are kids…the next minute, they’re changed…and dead….or undead. Pretty and popular Alice runs to the bus. She saw her friends change but she ran. Now it’s the kids against the zombie apocalypse.

The snow storm makes it impossible to drive but the kids have to figure out an escape. They meet up with Pete, a classmate who fled the scene and hid out in a gas station. When the zombie horde advances, Smitty uses a lit cigarette to ignite the fuel pumps and credits the movie "Diehard" for the idea--you gotta hand it to Bruce Willis--he knows how to blow stuff up. The teens' next step is to find shelter and a phone. No one can get a cell signal and landlines aren’t working.

Just when they are about to give up, they see a castle…yes, a real castle. Where better to fight off an attack of slow moving undead?

What is changing normal people into zombies? Who is behind it and why? Why isn’t someone looking for them? Where are the authorities?

Laugh out loud teen antics and name calling will have readers in stitches.


The two boys, Pete and Smitty, are opposites and constantly at war.
When they see a sign for a castle, Pete says, “It’s a castle!”
“So?” says Smitty.
“Fortification.” Pete’s eyes gleam.
Smitty frowns at him. “Thanks, but you’re not my type.’”

Protagonist Bobby is hilarious and feisty! I wouldn’t want anyone else by my side if I had to fight off zombies. Spot on dialog, snarky teen humor, hilarious zombie attacks, zombie fighting gone silly, and a great tale will have hordes of fans reading and loving this new ya novel. This is a “don’t miss” title for all zombie fans!

Highly, highly recommended grades 7-up.

One of the boys moons the group, no language, some zombie violence, Diehard explosions, and a super-sweet kiss.

FTC Required Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. I did not receive monetary compensation for this review.

This review has been posted in compliance with the FTC requirements set forth in the Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising (available at ftc.gov/os/2009/10/091005revisedendorsementguides.pdf)