Rot & Ruin

Gr 8 Up—At first glance, this appears to be a retelling of Carrie Ryan's The Forest of Hands and Teeth (Delacorte, 2009) but with a male protagonist. But Maberry's vision of a zombie-infested future has more action, more violence, and more emotional depth. Benny Imura was a baby when the zombie apocalypse happened. His first memory is of his mother handing him to his older half brother as she is being dragged down by his zombie-fied father. He resents Tom for leaving his mother, for running away. To Benny, Tom is a coward. To everyone else in their fenced-in town, Tom is the toughest, bravest zombie killer in California. As Benny approaches his 15th birthday, he must find a job or forfeit half of his food rations. After losing half a dozen jobs, he reluctantly agrees to work as Tom's apprentice in the "Family Business." When they travel out into the Rot and Ruin, he witnesses things that change his opinion of his brother and forever alter his perception of the world. He also learns that flesh-eating zombies aren't the scariest or most dangerous monsters around. As with all zombie stories, this one requires a fairly large suspension of disbelief, but once the brothers enter the Rot and Ruin, readers become too wrapped up in the plot to dwell on some lapses of logic. The relationship between Benny and Tom becomes surprisingly complex and satisfying, as does the romantic subplot between Benny and his friend Nix. The length of the book may intimidate some reluctant readers but the striking cover, compelling action, and brutal violence will draw them in and keep them reading.—Anthony C. Doyle, Livingston High School, CA

On First Night, the dead walked and began to eat the living. That was 14 years ago, and now Benny Imura has a choice to make. At 15, every member of the safely fenced community of Mountainside must find a job or have his or her rations cut in half. Finding himself without any useful skills in this post-zombie-apocalypse world, Benny asks his brother if he can apprentice in the "family business"-zombie killing. On the other side of the fence lies Rot and Ruin, where the once 300 million inhabitants of the United States roam hungry and undead; but, his brother Tom reminds him, every one of them was once somebody's wife, father, sister, or little boy. As the brothers pull away from the relative safety of their community and see the work of some of Tom's fellow bounty hunters, Benny learns that the real monsters still wear human faces. — "35 Going on 13," Booksmack! 4/21/11

In the post-zombie apocalypse, teenagers must take up an occupation at age fifteen in order to continue to receive food rations. Reluctantly, Benny agrees to apprentice with his legendary older brother as a zombie killer; along the way he learns what it means to be human and how to respect the undead. An entertaining, emotional take on the zombie theme.