When Zombies Invade

This book turned the zombie story on its head. Not all zombies are dead, fire is good, frogs are bad. Plus, there are trains and witches. This book makes zombies age appropriate. They are still kind of gory, but the idea of brain eating hordes is calmed down to make it an enjoyable read for younger readers.

There is one big question on my mind, that I may never know the answer to. Are all of the adults blind? The story would not work with a bunch of adults involved, but I can't figure out how they are all so clueless as to what is going on. In a way, it does make sense. Things that can not be easily explained, like a train of zombies, would probably just be rationalized away by adults. Children are more willing to accept that things may not be what they seem.

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Author: D.E. Daly
Publisher: West 44 Books
Publication Date: August 2018

So this book was ok, it just didn't stand out of the crowd for me. I know this is aimed at younger readers, and it's fine for them with very little gore despite being a novel about zombies invading a town, but even so it felt a bit juvenile and the plot also seemed rushed towards the end. That being said, it was still amusing enough that I know a few kids who would enjoy it, especially those who are newer too chapter books.

I would like to thank the publisher, author, and Netgalley for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

This is supposed to be middle grade level but I’d place it lower; the writing and storytelling is very simple. I believe it’s supposed to be a dystopia with the train station abandoned but I don’t understand how they still have technology and the internet in a dystopia.
Is fire banned? Why is the lighter rare? So confused. Umm, since when does salt burn zombies? Salt is for demons. “Since when are zombies afraid of frogs?” Yah, since when? Is the author trying to introduce new zombie lore?
“It was high noon. And they were going to fight zombies. This was the coolest day of Chloe’s life so far. Just hopefully not her last day.” I giggled so hard.

When Zombies Invade was a nice, quick read with a spunky trio of kids. I was surprised to see that it was only 66 pages, as I thought I’d been in for a thicker read. However, I think the length works perfectly. This short chapter book would be great for reluctant readers.

Even though this is a book about zombies, it’s not the slightest bit scary. The author does a great job of getting the point of the zombies across without going into detail which could give younger readers nightmares.
I liked each of the kids, and the fact that we got to know a little bit about them. I thought at least one of them had a fairly good head on their shoulders as well.

The only problem I had with When Zombies Invade was that there were times when the kid’s dialogue didn’t quite seem believable. It didn’t happen a lot, but in 66 pages it doesn’t need to for it to stand out a bit.

My favorite quote from the book was:

“We should tell somebody, everybody – it’s not our fault if they don’t believe us!”

Overall, When Zombies Invade is a great start to a series, and I could easily see struggling readers getting into the story. It’s action-filled, simple, and entertaining. I’ll be running it past my kiddo soon to see if it catches her attention.

This a fun book for middle school age girls and younger who want to Zombies without all the gore.

The writing style as well as the illustrations is very similar to the Dork and Wimpy kids series with the drawings.

My girls loves the book because Chloe is start, exciting and she uses feminist comments though out the book that reminds girls they can do anything the boys can. Which will make adults laugh out loud and girls feel good about themselves.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher West 44 Books for the advance copy of D.E. Daly When Zombies Invade.

May I have your attention please. The next station is Zephyr Terminal in Bridgeside.

This is a safety announcement: Zombies spotted by 11-year-olds, Justin, Chloe, and Malik.

The train now standing at the platform is not in public service. Please do not board this train. It is full of ZOMBIES!

Stand well back from the platform edge. There are annoying siblings, zombie bites, and possible witches in this book.

Testing, testing. One, two, three, four... Will Justin, Chloe, and Malik be able to save Bridgeside from the zombie horde? Do not delay. Read this book!

Passengers are reminded that the first Z Team novel is super spooky, and should be great for middle-grade reluctant readers.

Please have your tickets ready and purchased for the August 1st release of D.E. Daly's When Zombies Invade!

Thank you to NetGalley, West 44 Books, and D.E. Daly for the advanced copy for review.

It’s three kids against a horde of zombies. Chloe, Justin, and Malik accidentally let a zombie train enter Zephyr Terminal, and now they need to save their town. But no one believes them. “What’s this nerd game?,” asks Justin’s brother in disbelief. What are they going to do?

This is a really cute book. The book has a lot of cute flourishes, like cartoon drawings, a map, and texting conversations; of special note are Chloe’s subtle feminist one-liners.

I definitely recommend this book and look forward to seeing what adventures the Z Team will go on next!

This is a middle grade or perhaps a bit younger zombie story. Three friends, The Z Team, are shocked when a train comes to town. There has not been a train on those tracks in ages. They decide to investigate. Their investigation leads them to find that the train brought zombies to town. Not your traditional movie zombies. These zombies are ruled by a witch. Some of these zombies can be changed back into their human form. They are the living zombies. Salt, fire, and frogs are useful in this zombie adventure. This is the first book in The Z Team series. Their next adventure... Vampires. I highly recommend this book for those children who are 11ish and enjoy supernatural reads.