Get A Small Zombie Problem (Zombie Problems Book 1) Author K.G. Campbell Hardcover

story is a little slow, especially at the beginning, It gets better towards the end,

The zombie doesn't show up until about halfway through the book, I wish the story had focused a little more on her,

I enjoyed the whimsical characters and the family history, The characters are what really drive the story, I hope Madame Marvell shows up more in the series,

I really liked reading this with my daughter, It was fun to see her reactions to things, She liked the story, and she thought it was funny, especially the zombie, August DuPont lives with his Aunt Orchid in a dilapidated mansion, A mansion he hasn't set foot outside since he was brought as a young child, The DuPont's were once wealthy, but after a family betrayal their hot sauce dynasty is down to the last few bottles, August spends his time reading, creating elaborate paper mache sculptures, and watching television through binoculars,

When he receives an invitation to visit the wealthy cousins he didn't even know he had, August cannot wait to get outside, The possibility of making a friend, his first friend, propels him forward, even with the danger of a giant alligator on the loose, But, the rich Malveau's have more than friendship on their minds when they invited August over, it seems that hidden somewhere in the broken DuPont mansion there is a treasure worth a fortune! Will August find the treasure And if he does, will he give it to the Malveau's, or use it to save his own fortunes And what will he ever do with the strange friend he picked up in the DuPont family crypt

A fun story that would appeal to readers inth grade who enjoyed Kate Klise'sOld Cemetery Road series or sitelinkA Taste for Red.
Very funny! Even with a zombie, it is not scary, Does mention a child adding bourbon to his aunts drink, I liked it well enough to read the next in the series, BL.pts. Good for younger reader with higher AR level A Small Zombie Problem is a very serious and very silly tale about family, freedom, and zombies, The prose is genteel and sophisticated with tongue placed firmly in cheek, but it displays a great deal of empathy for its unfortunate main character, The narrative follows the misadventures of August DuPont, a young boy who attracts butterflies wherever he goeswhich isnt very far, since he hasnt left his dilapidated house in his entire life thanks to his Aunt Hydrangea, a disgraced hot sauce heiress and the

Miss Havisham of the bayou pageant circuit.
When August receives an invitation to visit family he didnt know he had, he sets off a chain of events involving zombies, undertakers, feral mystics, a giant white alligator, and a particularly memorable crawfish boil.


As you can see, this book is A Lot, I must admit that it took me a good quarter of the book to acclimate to the tone, At first I found it cloyingly tweethink of a selfconscious Southernfried mashup of Tim Burton and Wes Andersonbut I eventually settled in and found myself enjoying it quite a bit.
Theres more than a passing resemblance between this book and A Series of Unfortunate Events, which I do not care for at all, so Im sure the similarity colored my perception at first.
That may come as quite a surprise, considering the general thrust of this blog, Im just not a fan of art that is overly precious or impressed with itself, and A Series of Unfortunate Events has always struck me as being far too selfaware in its cleverness and quirkiness.
Ive tried to make it through the first book a few times and just couldnt do it, On the bright side, if youre a fan of that series you will likely love this book,

Once I eased into the groove of A Small Zombie Problem, I found a story that was funny, suspenseful, wacky, touching, wise, and mildly disgusting, which is a marvelous combination for a kids book.
Its thrilling and inspiring when August stands up to his neurotic but kindhearted Aunt Hydrangea and decides to “star in his own life”braving the hordes of butterflies that follow him everywhere and the duplicitous relatives who toy with his emotionsso that he can make his own decisions and see what life has to offer outside of his lonely, crumbling house.
August and his zombie companion grew on me a great deal over the course of this book, so Im excited to read about their adventures in Bookplus, I really want to know whats going on with that giant white alligator.
Fun elementary book about a zombie! Well, Really about the boy who found the zombie, Who doesnt love a kid who non no one knows about and crazy shenanigans August is a lonely little boy, living in a crumbling mansion in a swamp, where the only person he ever sees is his slightly loony Aunt Hydrangea.
She still wears the tiara and sash from when she won the Chili Pepper Princess pageant many years ago, and has a morbid fear of butterflies, This makes August's rare skin condition, which attracts butterflies to him, rather inconvenient, He's a rather odd child, himself, making skeleton puppets in his attic bedroom and spying on the wild child whose houseboat is moored to their boat landing.
Barricaded in an old ruin, the pair live on the sales of the last few remaining crates of the hot sauce that once made their family rich, before the fortune went.
Then one day, August tentatively ventures outside and without meaning to, changes everything,

Next thing he knows, he's been invited to visit an aunt and a pair of cousins he didn't know he had, They're a fairly strange lot, too, but rich with it, His longing for friendship and a sense of belonging go a bit to his head, and by the time he comes home, he has agreed to hunt for a longlost family heirloom that his newfound Aunt Orchid desperately wants.
But it turns out that he has unknowingly found it already, and it's not just a pretty gemstone it has the power to raise the dead, That explains why an undead little girl has started following August around like a lost puppy, Now he's worried that if he doesn't shake Claudette off somehow, his chance to belong with his welltodo cousins will be ruined,

It's a quirky and funny little zombie story with surprisingly little running and screaming, and absolutely no brainseating but it nevertheless puts August through quite a dilemma.
He learns an heartbreakingly painful lesson, which will make your heart go out to him, Though he doesn't always come across as perfectly nice himself, you'll understand what he's going through and appreciate what he learns from it, August's world is weird and different and has a definite atmosphere, a sense of happening in a real place, and an emotional resonance that I think will stand out in young readers' minds.
And it will leave you curious about what August and his pet zombie might do next,

This is the first book of the "Zombie Problems" trilogy, continuing in The Zombie Stone and, due to be released in January, August of the Zombies.
K. G. Campbell is an authorillustrator who also cocreated the children's picture book Wee Sister Strange with Holly Grant, wrote and illustrated Lester's Dreadful Sweaters and illustrated Kate DiCamillo's Flora amp Ulysses.
.for book versionfor audio since I swapped between the two

posted at For What It's Worth on: sitelink fwiwreviews. net/re

Source: copy provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review At first, I wasn't sure what to make of this one, I mean, it screams ZOMBIES, but in all actuality, they were initially no where to be seen! First, we meet young August, . . a pale lad with honey colored eyes and a peculiar affliction of sorts that makes him a literal magnet for BUTTERFLIES, Yes, you read that right, . . butterflies which doesn't sound bad, until you factor in the fact that his guardian, Aunt Hydrangea, is deathly afraid of butterflies and pretty much the outside world at this point, so yeah.
let's just say that hermits get out more than these two, Thank goodness most things can be brought to you now a days, making their staid life more bearable, . . until finally it isn't at least for August.

Times change, people grow up, and with that comes curiosity, and wanderlust, . . a need to break free and see the world, or at least the inside of a classroom, along with the chance to make friends, Was that too much to ask It depends who you ask, . . and when the chance arrives for all this and more to become reality versus dream thanks to a relation he didn't know he had thanks Aunt Hydrangea.
or not, August won't be fenced in any longer, Off on an adventure to better times and greater living, he's so caught up in his rapture he can't quite see the forest for the trees, . . but he's about to see the graves for their inhabitants, or rather ONE of their FORMER inhabitants, . . though just how they came to be UNdead is beyond him, Can August survive his first bout in the outside world or will his new undead tagalong be the monkey wrench that rips that chance away

When push comes to shove, August has a heart of gold.
He knows what's right and what's wrong, Despite the fact that ANYONE would be tempted to do things they didn't really feel comfortable with given the right situation, I can honestly say I was rather proud of him.
. . even if it took him longer than I'd have liked, He and Aunt Hydrangea learn so much, as do the other half of the newly revealed relatives, . . among those lessons, our difference are to be celebrated not hidden, friends should like us for who we are not who they want us to be, the evil twin theory is TOTALLY right, and never underestimate the primal force that is a young girl zombie who feels you're threatening her friend.



copy received for review opinions are my own Droll, Absurd, Heartwarming

I was amused, impressed, and entertained by this odd, and oddly endearing, book.
In some respects it's similar to the work I admire from Roald Dahl and David Walliams, but it also carves out some fresh territory of its very own.


The setup is classic, August, a kind, observant, good natured boy in unusual circumstances has grown up without ever having left his rundown family mansion, According to the fictional rule of the "inciting incident" he is called upon to leave the premises and have an adventure, Along the way this innocent abroad accidentally reanimates a young girl and so ends up with a girl zombie sidekick, None of this barebones summary gives you a sense of how delightful the book is, but it at least gives you an idea of the plot, such as it is.


The real fun here is in the deadpan unflappable hero, the understated oddness of pretty much everything that happens, the charm and quirkiness of virtually every character, and the twisty unexpectedness of many of the twists and turns of the tale.
There's a hidden treasure macguffin that keeps the plot wheels spinning, but that's all beside the point, There's whimsy of course, but a bracing undercurrent of sterner stuff that keeps the book from being cutesy

This is a story about family and the ties that bind.
It's about adventure and making your way, It is very much about friendship and, of all things, making the honorable choice, With all the wordplay and slightly antic action, the book is mostly about goodness and kindness,

On that last point, there is a line in the book I want to get right because it encapsulates the unusual and engaging feel of this book overall.
MILD SPOILER. At one point our hero is humiliated, in front of a large crowd, at a big party, by his cousin, He is hurt and embarrassed, That's not an unusual scene for a middle grade book like this, especially one involving a timid and shy kid, The author describes August's hurt and dismay, But then there is an odd narrative aside something I don't recall ever seeing in a book like this, Here it is "If you are saddened by the lack of compassion in such a large gathering of people, please take heart, There were, in fact, many expressions of pity and concern in the crowd, but August simply did not see them, " I like authors who are edgy and sharp and sometimes push middle grade readers around, But I don't think I've read another one who is so good about picking that reader up and dusting him off after knocking him down, I just liked that.

Anyway, this is the first book in a proposed series, It ends with our two buddies looking at the next stage of their adventure, searching for the macguffin, I will eagerly await that next volume, because I was just so taken by this first book, This was an excellent find,

Please note that I received a free ecopy of this book without a review requirement, or any influence regarding review content should I choose to post a review.
Apart from that I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book, .