Zack Zombie (William and Gena Pena), Bullies and Buddies (Diary of a Minecraft Zombie #2), Scholastic Australia, 1 Nov 2016, 128pp., $9.99 (pbk), ISBN: 9781743811511
This is the second instalment of a series that is thus far up to book 11. It still contains the wonderful humour of the first, with Zack still with his girlfriend and his group of friends from the first book. Throw in some killer bunnies and a more complicated situation about bullies, and you have another humorous tale.
I think one of the strengths of this book is its ability to retain the innocence of Zack’s tone, accompanied by the humour as it flips everything readers assume humans do (and they probably would have tried) but see Zack doing in a uniquely zombie way — which is going to appeal to readers and hopefully make them howl with laughter again.
Here, Zack is faced with a bully problem, two in fact: Mutant and Mike Magma. Mike is the bully from the first book, as mean as ever, but this time Mutant joins the school and he and Mike become fast friends.
Mutant is a large kid, the kind you would immediately make assumptions about if you saw them – as Zack does. And, Mutant lives up to those assumptions and more until Zack stumbles upon his secret and realises that sometimes bullies are bullies because that’s what happens to them and they repeat what they know.
It’s a simple and effective twisting around of everything reader would assume about kids that look or act a certain way, and will hopefully make readers pause if faced with the same situation.
The book doesn’t pretend to be overly complicated – it is a diary of a zombie kid after all. But therein lies the beauty of this series – it’s speaking to kids, on their level without preaching. And including some seriously good humorous writing.
Reviewed by Verushka Byrow
