_________________________________________
"My best friend and I used to have contests where
we'd try to gross each other out. We don't bother
with that anymore. I can win every time, even
when I'm not trying." - Nathan Abercrombie
_________________________________________
What's The Story?
Nathan Abercrombie was having a lousy day. He had been in three ego-crushing situations before school was over and that wasn't even the worst of it -- after school he was turned into a zombie.
Okay, he wasn't turned completely into a zombie. See there's this kind of crazy doctor who was related to Abigail and then there was grape Kool-Aid and then Mookie tripped and then the cops came and it all got kind of out of control and then wham, mostly zombie!
Maybe that wasn't the best explanation, but how Nathan was zombied isn't as important as what happened afterwards. It turns out being undead isn't all bad.
Maybe that wasn't the best explanation, but how Nathan was zombied isn't as important as what happened afterwards. It turns out being undead isn't all bad.
Even though Nathan has given a few things up as a zombie (like feeling pain or breathing!) Nathan has gained a few things as well. Things that are getting him noticed at school. Things that are boosting his popularity. Like most kids, he has daydreamed about being popular, but being dead is a pretty high price to pay for popularity. Does he want to be a half-dead hero the rest of his half-life or does he want to return to being boring, normal, living Nathan?
The problem is, if he and his friends don't find a cure soon, he won't get to make a choice. He'll just have to spend the rest of his life...undead.
How did you like it?
You can tell the author David Lubar loves horror. If his ongoing Weenie series of quirky and spooky short stories wasn't enough of a clue for me, the characters and place names in My Rotten Life sealed the deal. The kids attend Belgosi (Bela Lugosi) Upper Elementary and graduated Borloff (Boris Karloff) Lower. I'm sure there's plenty of others references I could find if I Googled them. My personal favorite was Ackerman Woods (Forest J. Ackerman was founder of Famous Monsters Magazine back in the stone age when I was a kid).
Funny thing is, for all the homages to the spooky stuff, My Rotten Life is not a scary tale at all. It's extremely funny and revealing. Though the tone of the story is light, you can feel Nathan's changes and how he struggles with it all. It's a humorous character study, not a horror story. The closest thing to scary are a few bits of gross humor that will only be a problem for wimpy "gastrically challenged" adults. Kids will eat that stuff up (gross pun intended).
The thing I didn't expect was how much story Lubar managed to hide under the whole zombie thing. While I'm easily amused and you could have filled this book with 150 pages of zombie gags, Lubar took a higher road and fleshed out (zombie humor) the two main protagonists, Nathan and Abigail. These are easily likable kids, both with their own problems and quirky home lives. Also there's Nathan's best friends: Mookie - Dim-witted, slightly hyper, perpetually hungry and loyal to a fault Mookie. A kid I'm sure was a Labrador Retriever in another life. I hope we get to know more of his story in future books.
I really enjoyed My Rotten Life. Funny dialog, goofy humor, a zombie, crazy relatives, farts, busted digits, soggy underpants, friendships, a Halloween party, popularity, pull-ups and waffles. What more can you want? Well hopefully you want a lot more because Nathan has four other books of adventures. If they're all as good as this one - and I have a feeling they are - It's going to be a fun ride all the way to the end. Go team zombie!
Visit David Lubar's website here
No comments:
Post a Comment