book review-my rotten life
I had the pleasure of meeting author David Lubar a while back and was the lucky recipient of an advance copy of his new book My Rotten Life, the first in a new series called Nathan Abercrombie, Accidental Zombie. I'm a huge fan of Sleeping Freshman Never Lie and this new book is sort of like Sleeping Freshman for the elementary group, which means it's funny and it cleverly pokes fun at kids's quest for popularity. And the main character becomes a zombie! What's not to like?
Nathan has had a bad day. His crush made a point of telling him he's not invited to her Halloween party, he didn't get picked for any of the teams in gym class, and he tanked at the popular video game, making him a Loser. He doesn't think his day can get any worse, but boy is he wrong. In a science experiment gone wrong, Nathan is soaked with a chemical that kills off parts of him in a zombie-like way. Doncha hate it when that happens?
He has to hide his new abilities from his parents (he doesn't have a heartbeat, or need to eat, sleep or breathe) and work with his friends to concoct an antidote before he's completely changed forever. Amongst all the fun, Nathan and his friends (and even some of his enemies) learn to be kinder and less obsessed with their social standing. There are lots of clever little jokes--the gym teachers are Mr. Lomux and Ms. Gristle, the art teacher is Mr. Dorian, they go to Belgosi Upper Elementary (Bela Legosi, anyone?) and another school is Borloff Lower (hello-Boris Karloff?). At the end of the book Nathan has to make a choice and things are resolved for now--not exactly in the way he expected--but the setup is there for the next book in the series.
Nathan's descriptions of the quirks of the other kids and his parents made me laugh throughout the book, and it's just gross enough that my 9 year old nephew will love it. It will appeal to older kids, too--though the characters are in 5th grade, the kids seemed older to me and I can see 6-7 graders liking it, too.
I got to hear Mr. Lubar read some of his short stories and his delivery was amazing and hilarious. As I read My Rotten Life I kept hearing him telling the story, and that added to the fun. I expect this book will be a big hit with the kids at my school--as are most all of his other books.
This book will be available in August.
Nathan has had a bad day. His crush made a point of telling him he's not invited to her Halloween party, he didn't get picked for any of the teams in gym class, and he tanked at the popular video game, making him a Loser. He doesn't think his day can get any worse, but boy is he wrong. In a science experiment gone wrong, Nathan is soaked with a chemical that kills off parts of him in a zombie-like way. Doncha hate it when that happens?
He has to hide his new abilities from his parents (he doesn't have a heartbeat, or need to eat, sleep or breathe) and work with his friends to concoct an antidote before he's completely changed forever. Amongst all the fun, Nathan and his friends (and even some of his enemies) learn to be kinder and less obsessed with their social standing. There are lots of clever little jokes--the gym teachers are Mr. Lomux and Ms. Gristle, the art teacher is Mr. Dorian, they go to Belgosi Upper Elementary (Bela Legosi, anyone?) and another school is Borloff Lower (hello-Boris Karloff?). At the end of the book Nathan has to make a choice and things are resolved for now--not exactly in the way he expected--but the setup is there for the next book in the series.
Nathan's descriptions of the quirks of the other kids and his parents made me laugh throughout the book, and it's just gross enough that my 9 year old nephew will love it. It will appeal to older kids, too--though the characters are in 5th grade, the kids seemed older to me and I can see 6-7 graders liking it, too.
I got to hear Mr. Lubar read some of his short stories and his delivery was amazing and hilarious. As I read My Rotten Life I kept hearing him telling the story, and that added to the fun. I expect this book will be a big hit with the kids at my school--as are most all of his other books.
This book will be available in August.