Generation Dead by Daniel Waters

PJVs QUICKIE POV: While I finished this book and actually did enjoy it, the entire time reading I felt unsettled. Uncomfortable in my own skin, or actually more specifically head. You see the book deals with a few topics that can only be described as political. Civil Rights movement for the dead and it calls into question how you would react in a similar situation, even though you know it was not possible. I mean really, zombies? But the things they did to these dead children are no worse than what happened during the civil rights movement, so is Waters making a book long metaphor and substituting zombies for African Americans? Which leaves a bad taste in your mouth, because once again, zombies?

REVIEW: American Teenagers are returning as zombies. The are waking up hours after they have been pronounced dead and shambling home. Some are being accepted with open arms. Some are being shunned by their own family and friends. A certain high school in New England has become Zombie Friendly and more and more travel their to attend high school, to live in peace, to maybe find acceptance. But, difference lead to hatred, lead to mistrust, lead to terrible occurrences by scared and bigoted people.

Phoebe who is a certain type of girl that people also tend to distrust and look at oddly {goth} finds a certain fascination with a particularly advanced differently biotic {zombie} boy. His name is Tommy, he holds the door for her, his eyes aren't vacant like the others, he is joining the football team. Her fascination seems to go both ways and leads to a bridge from her living world to his dead world. With it she brings her friends Margi and Adam, reluctant at first, but accepting as time goes by and friendships are made. Margi finds enlightenment through guilt, Adam because he will do anything for Phoebe, even change himself into a better person. But, as friendships are made others look upon their associations as disgusting and blasphemous and plots are laid to teach the living a lesson and eradicate the dead...

Fascinating concept. But there was no respite in this book. There was no underlying love. There was unrequited love, and a certain crush that might have formed between Tommy and Phoebe, but in the end you never know if it was real. It was just a sort of in-your-face reality show of children dealing with heavy stuff. Death. Hatred. Bigotry. Using. Suicide. Fear. Depression. Mania. But, while there were heavy hitting topics, the author never took you so far into that you felt like you were drowning. Just enough that your tongue tasted like battery acid, but not enough to choke on it. This is not a book to read if you want happy and heart-felt. But boy does it make you think.

The bad taste lies within the zombie factor. These are zombies. Walking-dead zombies. And this girl, goth or not, fascinated with death or not is getting her stomach twisted around for a kid with rubbery skin, vacant eyes, delayed speech, and a gray tongue. Death is so much more than just a different color skin...right??? But then the way vamps are portrayed, they are dead, marble skin, ice cold, no beating heart...they are dead right? Why not sexy zombies if they have sexy vamps??

The difference of... "Urggggghhhhh!!! Aghrrrrgh!!!!!" Shuffle shuffle. to "I vant to suck yur blood."

Nice cover though, but who is it? Not Phoebe. But those are her boots.

RECOMMENDATIONS: Heavy topics for more mature readers, but there is nothing to corrupt young minds. I'm giving a 12+ recommend, but parents might want to read first just in case.



Have you read Generation Dead??? Link em up...

BWB Rating: 2/4