My Rotten Life (Nathan Abercrombie Accidental Zombie)

Nathan is tired of being picked on. All in one day, he had his heart stomped on by Shawna Lanchester, got picked last in gym class, and then couldn’t even get past the easy level on the zombie video game while everyone was watching him. Nathan isn’t even at the bottom of the 5th grade totem pole, but school is still pretty much torturous. He is walking home with his friend Mookie when Abigail, who is at the bottom of the totem pole, comes up to him and offers to help. She says that her uncle is a scientist who is working on a formula to mask unhappiness. Although it doesn’t seem like a very good idea, Nathan and Mookie go anyway. There’s a bit of an accident, and Nathan gets an overdose of the formula. He seems to suffer no ill effects and heads home. Soon, however, the effects creep in. His food isn’t digesting, he doesn’t sleep, he feels no pain and he isn’t even breathing. It may seem really cool on the surface, but Nathan’s not ready to be fully zombified yet. Can Nathan get back to his normal 5th grade self before it’s too late?

This is the first in a series about Nathan and his friends. David Lubar gets kids, and this book is gross and funny and perfectly paced. The quality of life for many middle schoolers is exposed with the mean kids reigning supreme in places like the cafeteria and the track. No matter what side of the popularity fence readers falls on, readers will recognize themselves in the students of Belgosi Upper Elementary.

Plus…zombies! Doesn’t get better than that!