If there's one thing I'm gathering from my reading this year, it's that Iowa is the fictional hub for some weird s*** goin' down in America. I think it's the corn.

I was curious to see whether a middle grade zombie book could actually be achieved, and Bacigalupi delivered. The zombie thing *does* take quite a bit longer than expected to really get going though, and in the meantime, Bacigalupi ties in food/animal ethics to make the whole scenario believable and meta. He also discusses white privilege in a poignant way, especially in light of the particular events of the past three days. It's true, it can feel heavy-handed at times, at least as an adult reading this, but I think it could be a great conversation starter for a grade schooler/middle schooler. The reader was pretty fun as well...we really need more POC audiobook readers.

My detractors were the slow-ish plot and the extent to which cliched phrases were used (I started narrating the thing myself). Also, holy cats. Where this book excels at racial/ethnic diversity, it is woefully negligent of gender parity. Mothers/aunts are literally out of the country almost immediately, and one girl takes up the fight for, like, a sentence at the end. Guess girls don't really have a stake in this, huh. ( )

FROM PUBLISHER: When their world is overrun by a zombie apocalypse, Rabi, Miguel and Joe, members of a diverse youth baseball team, discover that toxic cattle feed from a corrupt meatpacking plant is transforming cows into monsters.

It begins with strange smells from the meatpacking plant while middle schoolers Rabi, Joe, and Miguel are playing baseball. And as you might have guessed from the title, there are zombies. It's a fun little zombie romp, but it also has a lot to say about race and immigration and economics. And it doesn't try to guilt/scare you into becoming a vegetarian, which I appreciated. I like books that can say Big Things about Big Topics without making feel like I'm being lectured to. It still has plenty of funny moments, and no dull ones. Definitely a worthwhile read, especially for younger readers. ( )

It was a clever and fast book thar I really enjoyed. It contained much more than I could have ever wished for and I would defenitely recomend it. ( )

Bacigalupi taking his causes to the younger adult crowd, using a boys' adventure tale structure, with villains supplied by a large meat packing business and the US immigration authorities. And when I say "boys' adventure tale," that's in 1950's sense. There's nary a girl in sight nor any discussion of them, just a lot of bicycles, baseball, and bullies. The zombies are straight out of cliche, groaning "Braaains" at the drop of a limb. It's not bad but for this age group, I'd recommend Pinkwater and Pratchett instead. ( )