LOOKING AHEAD: You Are So Undead To Me by Stacey Jay

This book is a lot of fun; great for fans of Ally Carter's I'D TELL YOU I LOVE YOU BUT THEN I'D HAVE TO KILL YOU. I don't think that zombies are going to be the next big thing like all the publishers are seeming to, but I do think that this zombie book might do well (especially since it's coming out in trade and not in hardcover). The premise here is that zombies are primarily created when a dead person has something in their former life left to settle (a score, a disagreement, a goodbye they didn't get to say) and get up out of their graves to do so. When this happens, they are drawn to a Zombie Settler, who listens to their problem, helps to solve it and then sends them back for eternal rest. Megan's 15 and a Zombie Settler, and she's really rather not be. She's much more interested in going to homecoming with one of the hottest guys in school and getting a place on the pom squad with her best friend. Unfortunately, someone else has other plans - they're using black magic to turn ordinary unsettled zombies into the nasty flesh-eating kind and sending them after Megan. She's got to figure out who it is and stop them in time to both save herself and ensure that she gets to live a normal high school life. Toss in some friction courtesy of a crush on an older fellow Settler, Ethan, and you've got ordinary high school angst with more than a dash of otherworldly danger and fun. This has a bit of a Buffy feel to it, so if you like your YA fic to feel like a cross between Stephenie Meyer and Joss Whedon, I'd recommend this to you. Publisher: Penguin (Razorbill) Pub date: March 2009

Comments

[Patti]

As you've said, it's a cross between Stephenie Meyer and Joss Whedon -- and it makes no apologies for what it is. I was a little ... hmmm...jaded when I started to read it because of obvious Buffy similarities. But I did enjoy the book, thought it was fun, and Megan was an engaging narrator.