Dearly, Departed: A Zombie Novel
Year 2195. Postapocalyptic survivors start rebuilding a society influenced by the Victorian era. Steam engineering, tablet computers, corsets, . . . and zombies? Nora Dearly’s world is flipped when she is kidnapped by Bram, a handsome, kind, brave zombie. Not only do zombies exist in New Victoria, but there are good ones and really bad ones—and both want Nora. As she begins to adjust and thrive in the undead army that has been working to find a cure for a deadly disease, New Victoria becomes infested, and her friends are in danger. What can a proper lady and an army of slowly rotting soldiers do to help? Habel is an ambitious author, and this is a feat of multigenre proportions. She cleverly builds her novel to appeal to multiple readers. The high stakes of the plot are what will hook them, but the characters, particularly Bram and Nora, will keep them turning pages. A successful gamble by Habel. Grades 7-10. --Bethany  Fort