Thursday, June 02, 2011

Generation Dead by Daniel Waters

If you pick this book up expecting a "typical" zombie story (hordes of shuffling undead slogging about, losing body parts and eating brains), you'll be disappointed. This isn't that kind of zombie book. In fact, it's not really a zombie book at all. It's a YA story of teens dealing with school, family, friends and the drama and humor that can be so overwhelming under even the most "normal" of circumstances. What makes this story different is that "normal", at least in the U.S. now includes dead teens who aren't. Dead. Well, not exactly. For some reason (and theories abound), some teens in the U.S. have simply not stayed dead. They're not exactly alive, and certainly not the same as they once were, but they're walking, talking, and yes, going back to school.

This story takes the reader outside the bounds of differences based on skin color, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or any of the other myriad things that often make someone a target of bigots and bullies and puts discrimination into terms of life and un-life--made real by characters who are interesting and situations (barring the whole undead thing) that most everyone can relate to on some level.

Thought-provoking, interesting, and left me wanting to know more.

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