The Zombie Chasers

The Zombie Chasers by John Kloepfer, illustrated by Steve Wolfhard is a graphic novel of sorts for kids age 8-12. Zombies are flooding the quiet Arizona neighborhood while parents are at the school with teachers and Zack is being duct-taped to a chair by his big sister, Zoe, and her girlfriends, Madison, and Ryan. Locked in his room, Zack scrambles for a way out and water to wash off the clown makeup his sister put on his face. As he sneaks out into the kitchen to get the last piece of his his birthday cake, he spies his crush, Madison, forking bites of the cake into her own mouth. As they argue about the cake, the zombies make their way into the house, forcing the two unlikely companions up into Zack’s room where they formulate an show more escape.

The illustrations are black and white and accompanying the events in the text as Zack, Madison, and Zack’s best friend, Rice, hack their way through town. Rice thinks of himself as a zombie expert, and like typical kids, there’s arguing about who’s an ugly faced dork, and who’s a snotty brat. There are funny moments, gross moments, and scary moments as the kids try to escape the zombies and find a solution.

Read the full review: http://savvyverseandwit.com/2013/02/the-zombie-chasers-by-john-kloepfer-illustra... show less

Little Kid Reaction: The first thing our reader did was check out all the illustrations - the more undead, the better. She abandoned this book about half-way, but then came back to it after reading book 3, Sludgement Day.

Big Kid Reaction: The story paints a very vivid picture that grabs readers' and listeners' attention. The author strikes the upper-elementary funny bone spot on, and we had many "mom, listen to this ..." moments while our daughter read.

Pros: Lots of action and 'yucks' grab readers from the get-go.

To read our full review, go to The Reading Tub®.

Zack comes home one evening to a houseful of girls, his sister Zoe and her friends. He calls his friend, Rice, complain about the situation. Zack just doesn't realize that things are going to get much, much worse!

Mysteriously there is an outbreak of zombieism. Even his sister turns into one. One of Zoe's friends manages not to become one. Zack calls Rice again to find out what to do. Rice who lives in another neighbor and has excaped the zombie epidemic. Rice is a zombie expert and advises that his friend better escape from his house.

Zombie Chasers is a series which should appeal to middle school readers who are into the zombie craze. The characters are pretty one dimensional but they are entertaining. It is a nonstop adventure of show more trying to save his sister Zoe from being killed by the Army and trying to get to safety.

The gross factor is high, with black and white illustrations of zombies. This should also appeal to middle school students. It is a quick read and I had fun with it. I think that those youngsters who are eager to read zombie literature like everyone else will enjoy this series. For those who like the first book, they will be happy to know book 2 is already out. show less

It has potential, and I'm sure some kids will like it. I found the main characters to be irritating and the story to be gross, and normally I enjoy a good zombie story.

This is the story kids tell to out-scare each other. Consistant logic is unnecessary. It is an attempt to combine "Tales of a Wimpy Kid" with Shawn of the Dead. It fails.

My kids and I read a few chapters a night until we finished this and we all enjoyed the storyline. My kids have already asked me to start over reading it again.