Book review: Zombie-saurus Rex

Being a teenager is tough as it is. Now imagine you are a zombie. That's the premise of the wildly imaginative young adult novel Zombie-saurusRex by Mark Souza.

Here's the description:

Rex Morton, a seventeen year-old zombie, has arrived in the small farming town of Plain View, Nebraska; just another stop in a long string of small towns left behind in their rear view mirror. Unlike the zombie stereotype, Rex is bright and friendly - as long as he doesn't get hungry. He hopes this time he can manage to stick around long enough to get his diploma. Rex’s fiercely protective mother has strong-armed yet another school district into accepting her son by threatening a discrimination lawsuit. At Plain View High, a dismal pattern of fear, prejudice, and bullying steers Rex down a familiar path toward expulsion. The difference this time is that Rex has fallen for fiery Goth girl, Ariella Klopenstein, the daughter of the Police Chief, and decided he will make his stand in Plain View. As the Z-virus spreads west and the country panics, Rex and Ariella must find a way to overcome Rex’s mother who wants to break them apart and flee town, a school principal who wants Rex expelled, Ariella’s father, the Police Chief, who thinks Rex is dangerous, and a government zombie round-up aimed at solving the zombie problem once and for all. 

Zombie-saurus Rex is a story about perseverance, overcoming prejudice, stereotypes and adversity. What it isn't is a story about dinosaurs. The title is inspired by a nickname a school bully hangs on Rex due to his size, posture, and slow plodding gate. 

Since I am not the target audience, I gave it to my 11 year-old daughter. Here's her 5- star review.

I enjoyed the book very much it kept me interested the whole time. It was a great mix of action and comedy, and the style of the writing wasn't confusing or unclear, which is very good for me. I loved the personality of the characters and how different and interesting they are.
I was kind of bummed that Rex's dad didn't show up somewhere to get Rex and his mom to forgive him.

I was apprehensive to give her this one, because she's still at that anti-romance age (and that cover makes the book look steamier than it actually is).  One of her school assignments is to read 20 minutes a day. Every time she picked up this book, she went well over her 20 minutes. (And no calls from the other room: "Mom, has it been 20 minutes yet?") So although she wasn't terribly verbose with this review, but I know she really loved it.

You can find out more about Mark's really interesting (and not-just-for-kids) books on his website, Tweet at him,  and find him on Facebook.

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