So I got this off Netgalley thinking it was a comic - and it’s not. It’s a kid’s book for the 6-10 year old crowd who probably love the Diary of a Wimpy Kid books and want to read that but with zombies. But I said I’d review it so I read the darn thing and here’s what I think: boo! As if I was going to love this - I’m a sophisticated grown-up reader on the prowl for free superhero comics galleys to read in my Batman pjs!
It’s about a kid whose mum agrees to be the guinea pig for experimental science and ends up as a zombie. Her kid, Bill, becomes a zombie too but still retains his faculties because otherwise he wouldn’t write his diary for us to read! He also wants to become a pro gamer (the subtitle, “Playing Dead” - geddit? Because he’s a zombie and a gamer? He didn’t die though...) and has to navigate the pitfalls of school like bullies and girls - ew!
There’s humour in this book along the lines of Bill eating rotten food for his meals which makes his farts lethal so maybe your kid’ll find this amusing (oh who am I kidding, I laugh at fart jokes too!) especially if they’re into their games, which are cute parodies of Call of Duty, Super Smash Bros. and Pokemon.
Of course the language is simplistic and the story straightforward, 6 year olds are morons! So when writer Fred Perry’s describing Bill’s zombie mum, she’s not on pills and wine and depressed with being a single mother, she’s actually become a zombie for realsies!
I was mildly interested to see how the rest of the world would cope with Bill and his mum but I forgot this wasn’t a layered or difficult book to follow and nobody noticed or reacted differently. Man, writing for kids is an easy gig!
Zombie Kid Diaries: a transitional book for when your kids move on from colouring books but before they discover Harry Potter! My takeaway is to be careful about what I select from Netgalley from now on!
I want my lolly now for being a good boy and finishing my book!
Zombie Kid Diaries, Volume 1: Playing Dead
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