Generation Dead, because if it's not about Vampires than it's about Zombies

First off, I love Zombies.  I can't wait until they start popping up out of the graves.  We've got guns and a good water supply, so the Hubs and I are all set.  It's sad that I am more prepared for a zombie invasion than a real emergency situation.

For me Generation Dead by Daniel Waters is a bit Zombie light. But it's an intriguing book.  The cover alone is reason enough to give the book a try.  The zombies in question are all American teenagers, and only some teenagers that die come back to life, or non-life.  The main character is Phoebe who is (caution, shocker coming up!) a goth girl.  Because in recent years most YA books feature either rich, brand name wearing Upper East Sider girls or goth girls or both.  Phoebe gets a bit of a crush on a dead boy who goes to her school  Her best friends, another goth girl who is icked out by zombies and a hot football player harboring a secret crush of Phoebe, are of course surprised.

The zombies in Waters's world are as different as any human, some have barely functioning speech and motor skills, while others could almost pass for living.  Zombies have no real recognized rights in the story, and it shows the struggle of minorities through out the ages.  Some of the impressions, the rumors, the gossip about zombies are similar ones used against different races in the past.  That is where this book shines.

It's not a perfect story, the narrative gets a bit clunky at time.  But it's got teenaged zombies, which rocks.  It's also the first in a series, and I love a series.  I liked Generation Dead enough to read the second book, Generation Dead: Kiss of Life.  I'm interested to see where this series is going.

Generation Dead gets a Midnight Book Rating of 10:45pm, it may not be perfect, but it's a good book to have on a long, cold, dark night. Happy reading, zombie lovers!

Last post of 2009!  Adios, '09.  Welcome, 2010- you'd better be sweeter to me than 2009 was!