Zombie In Love

Smile ©Mortimer (Mortimer ©Scott C.)

...Zombie In Love, by Kelly DiPucchio & Scott Campbell

Atheneum Books for Young Readers

It’s the first time the inside flaps took me longer to read than the book itself. Sweet! 

What it would be if it wasn’t what it is: a teen horror drama film. Working title: Dawson’s Freak.

Yes, it’s a children book. And it’s easy to see why a child would love it. Holy cat-jumpin’ tobacco-spotted mountain goat, I loved it, and I’m 28! I’m almost full-grown! So here comes a short cool review for this cool short book!

The premise: Mortimer is lonely and ugly and dead. He also doesn’t smell so good. But Cupid’s Ball is nearing and he intends to find a chick. Will he win the day? [SPOILER: yes]

The authors: Kelly DiPucchio is the New York Times bestselling author of Grace for President and coauthor of The Sandwich Swap, as well as numerous other books for kids, and yes I’ve just blatantly copied what’s written on the flap. While I humbly admit not being familiar with her previous works, I like the way she writes, simply yet not childishly, and how well she placed all the predictable puns. Scott Campbell I already knew. He has the talent to delineate the mood of a panel with just a smiling face or the pose of an elbow, and draws the way all of us wanted to (but could not) as kids, his double splash pages pure joy for every 4-8 (or 28) year old, packed as they are of amusing and tiny details.

The facts: The dog loves severed limbs. One worm loves to wear an hat. The waitress doesn’t love diamond rings. Nobody loved the punch. Some corpses love to pry. Every couple loves holding hands. And EVERYBODY LOVES BRAINNN! Bum, bum bum bum bum, bum bum bum bum!

Coolness Factor: 5 out of 7

Top Three Things You didn’t Know Worms Liked to Do (apart from Wearing Hats):

3-wearing a tie;

2-playing cards and baseball;

1-bodybuilding!