Zom-B Gladiator
The sixth entry in the Zom-B series (with six more coming over the next 18 months!) continues the odyssey of the undead B as she tries to munch brains for good instead of evil. The return of American soldier Barnes leads to B becoming a “gladiator” for a boat full of the formerly rich and famous, who wish to enjoy some zombie-versus-zombie entertainment before they reassume control of the world. Shan introduces yet another chilling bad guy—the babyish child-killer Dan-Dan—while making sure B never quite loses her malcontent edge. Both as a publishing experiment and as a genuinely unsettling, long-form drama, this is working. Grades 9-12. --Daniel Kraus