The Undertakers

Gr 5—10—One morning, 12-year-old Will Ritter discovers that his cranky old neighbor, his math teacher, and the assistant principal of his school are all rotting corpses, and that they want him dead. Rescued by a mysterious new classmate, he ends up at Haven, the secret hideout of the Undertakers-a group of kids between the ages of 12 and 18 who can actually see the corpses and are attempting to rescue kids like Will, just coming into their Seer abilities. Will discovers that his dead father, evidently the only adult Seer, started the Undertakers with the help of Tom and Sharyn, former street thieves turned remarkably competent leaders. There's a lot going on here: weird aliens, a possible angel, cool gadgets and potentially magical weapons, and Will, who is Every Kid, only with skills that develop extraordinarily fast. Think Buffy the Vampire Slayer meets Harry Potter, with bug-filled corpses. Fans of comic-book heroes and video games will not be disappointed, and will be eager for further adventures. Fast paced and surprisingly moving.—Mara Alpert, Los Angeles Public Library