Ryan Andrews (1)

A bedraggled cat escapes from a sinister corporation's lab and is too exhausted to get beyond a garbage can nearby. Science-loving Mellie and her horror film-loving friend, Danny, find him while they're shooting a scene for Danny's next film. Mellie decides to sneak the cat home and names him Bert. The corporation, Yummco Foods, owns the entire town and Bert has a penchant for decapitating the animals he eats. What kinds of awful experiments are Yummco performing on animals, and which adults show more haven't been compromised by Yummco's penchant for making large donations around town?

Mellie narrates the story. A few chapters feature Bert's viewpoint or a look at the evil corporation's doings. By the end of this first volume in The ZomBert Chronicles, Mellie and Bert have formed a friendship. She remains clueless about Yummco Foods' laboratory. Rise of ZomBert is an enjoyable start to a middle grade series that blends mystery and light horror. Bert is a charming cat.

LOL the Yummco owner's orange, swirly combover and his robotic, lifestyle obsessed daughter. show less

I requested a review copy of Rise of ZomBert through the Library Thing Early Reviewers program because the cover with the cat on the gravestone captured my attention. It turned out to be fun. ZomBert is Bert, a gray, yellow-eyed cat who was formerly test subject Y-91 in the laboratory at the YummCo. Foods Factory. Y-91 was a feral cat before he was captured and is in terrible shape when he escapes. Much of his fur has fallen out and he's starving. That immediately implies that YummCo is not show more an ethical company, an implication reinforced later in the book.

Our heroine is a 9-year-old fourth grader, Mellie Gore. She loves science, humor, and gross things. So does her classmate and friend, Danny Hurley. Well, he shares her sense of humor, but he's really into films, especially zombie films. It's because Danny wants to film a horror movie that Mellie finds Y-91 in a recycling barrel. The cat is ugly and smelly, but his purr as she rescues him captures her heart. She names him Bert. Bert's behavior and looks are what cause Danny to dub him 'ZomBert'. Is Danny really convinced that Bert is a zombie?

The point of view switches among the cat, Mellie, and two YummCo lab assistants, Greg and Kali. (If Kali's parents named her that while knowing who Kali is, I can understand Kali's character. It would also work if she had an ordinary name and legally changed it to Kali, or just uses that name.) Greg is nice, but clueless. Kali is terribly frustrated that the Big Boss seems to prefer Greg to her.

They all live in a town named Lambert that is probably fictional and not any of the real life towns or cities named Lambert because no state is named. YummCo Foods Factory is Lambert's main industry. Before you groan, it and the town were founded by a Mr. Yumm. His descendants are still in charge. Currently that's Stuart Yumm and his grown daughter, Yolanda Yumm. I can't help wondering which one of them, if either, is the Big Boss.

Danny's mother works for YummCo. Mellie's parents don't. Her father is a former chef and her mother a former freelance writer. Currently, they're obsessed with their popular blog, 'Family, Food, and Fun'. Their enthusiasm is mirrored by Mellie's adopted younger twin brothers, Emmett and Ezra, who are old enough to be talking and walking, but young enough to use high chairs. Mellie is not enthusiastic -- she'd rather her parents stop photographing the food until it's cold. Thank goodness for ZomBert that she can spend this Saturday with Danny. (I suspect the cat would have died if Mellie hadn't found him. Certainly Greg and Kali wouldn't be surprised if he were dead when they find him.)

ZomBert turns up his nose at the YummCo cat food Mellie buys him. He wants to get his own food. I guess the windows at Mellie's house have no screens, because she can let him out that way. The cat may have rather disgusting eating habits, but there's no doubt he considers Mellie to be his human. If you've ever been owned by a cat, you'll probably have a good idea what the tokens of ZomBert's affection are.

Another subplot is the fact that Mellie and Danny have been dubbed the 'Weirdo Twins' by their class bully, Carl Weems. The scene where Carl's rats meet ZomBert is not a happy one, but it does lead to an interesting discovery at Carl's house. His mother's reaction to Mellie showing up there to see Carl is very telling.

We're not told exactly why the Big Boss wants Greg and Kali to get Y-91 back, but that cat needs to be found and tested. Greg and Kali are not successful so far. This is only the first book, after all, but their efforts lead to some good scenes. The ending deserves some ominous music.

NOTES:

Chapter 4:

a. Love ZomBert's reaction to being offered a bean bag chair for a bed. Yup, he's a cat.

b. Sad what Ms. LaReau has to do to make sure Mellie goes to the library instead of looking things up online at home. (I remember how horrified some librarians looked at me when I said I rarely used the reference section at the library until I added that we had an extensive reference collection at home.)

c. Look here for the titles of the books the current Yumms have written as well as some cat facts.

d. Mellie's stuffed chick toy is Mr. Peepers.

Chapter 6:

a. Here is where we learn about sweetbreads. (Makes me think of the time my Wisconsin born-and-bred mom brought home some head cheese. Look it up.)

b. Enter fourth grade bully Carl Weems.

c. The town's minor league baseball team is the Lambert Yumms.

Chapter 8:

a. We visit Danny's apartment and learn about some of his zombie stuff. (Wait until they're old enough to watch 'Shaun of the Dead'.)

b. We're told why Danny's father isn't home. Look here for the annoying YummCo jingle, as well as a description of Stuart Yumm. (I chuckled at Mellie and Danny's opinion of Mr. Yumm's hair.)

c. The Hurleys' apartment house doesn't allow pets.

Chapter 10: Mellie's grandparents live in Michigan.

Chapter 12: Lambert's founder was Nathaniel Lambert

Mellie is my kind of girl: she reads, she likes science and gross things, and she's very good at figuring out loopholes in her parents' commands. Danny's a nice friend and Carl has possibilities.

I also enjoyed Ryan Andrews' illustrations, especially his expressions. From them I realized that Mellie and her mother are persons of color. If you're a fellow glasses wearer, so are Mellie and (ugh) Kali. Mr. Andrews makes no attempt to pretty up Bert/ZomBert's appearance or hide his predatory nature.

I look forward to the next of the ZomBert Chronicles. Sure hope he succeeds in his big mission. show less

After the Autumnal Equinox Festival, when the lanterns are set off down the river, Ben and his crew of friends follow through on a pact to find out where the lanterns end up. But as each boy drops out the bike ride, Ben soon finds himself riding alone with nerdy Nathaniel. Over the course of their adventure, they meet a dashingly dressed fisherbear, enter an unusual land, meet Madame Majestic, and embark on a search for the sun star for Madame’s potion. All the while, the boys stick to the show more pact, intent on finding where the lanterns end up, and finding a common ground and friendship.A rambling and veering fantasy adventure. Suspend disbelief and go for the ride. show less

I received this as an early review copy from Candlewick Press - the very first one that I've done - and have to say that I was very pleasantly surprised. It's been a loooong time since I've read middle grade books as my kids are now well past that age and my own writing pursuits have taken me out of that genre, and I really wasn't sure what to expect.

This is a truly clever book -- one which will appeal to a wider age range than the target audience, I'm sure. The main (human) character, show more Mellie, is very relatable and the trope of 'weird, smart kid' is well established early on, but without it being pedantic. She's smart, self-aware and has a great sense of humour - I particularly enjoy her wry observations about her family and their ongoing blog. There's best-friend Danny and the school bully and many of the recognizable trials and tribulations facing middle grade kids.

And of course, there's Bert, or Zombert, as he comes to be known. I have fondness for ugly, scruffy cats, and Bert reminds me very much of a feral tomcat who used to sometimes live in our garage.:) Bert is mildly disturbing in his fondness for eating only the heads of his prey, but being a cat, how can you hold that against him? And he clearly has big plans to liberate his fellow inmates of the YummCo laboratory, so that makes him hero material.

Complete with perfectly detestable villains and the ever-present mystery of what's really going on at YummCo, this promises to be an excellent series for kids who like a bit of mild gore with their animal stories.

I'm not convinced that 10 year old me who loved all animals would be too thrilled with the headless frogs and squirrels and dragonflies (actually, adult me wasn't super keen on that either!), but I assume there must be sturdier constitutions than mine out there. I would hope there isn't too much delay between releases as there are a lot of unanswered questions once you get to the end and I would be super impatient to read the next one!

Overall, an enjoyable and engaging read, if not a bit squeam-inducing, so cautions if your potential reader is of a sensitive nature. show less