Dead

“No one knows what's going to happen. That's the way that life works. We're born, we live, we die, and in between a whole lot of stuff goes down that we can never guess. Not in a million years.”

Tripp Light never expected the zombie apocalypse. Who would? With the number of pop culture references out there, who would be dumb enough to start one? Well someone did. It's called Necropoxy. Most of the population has been infected by the airborne disease. Surrounded by poxers, Tripp and his sister Trina have to fight their way to safety. But can two teens survive in this world?

Zombieland meets Shaun of the Dead in this satirical story of the zombie apocalypse.

As Tripp and Trina plow their way through poxers with a Hummer they save whoever they can along the way. And of course Tripp's classroom nemesis Prianka is one of those saved. As much as he wanted to leave her behind. The two will create an entertaining banter back and forth as they have a battle of wits over what to do.

Along with Prianka is her little brother Sanjay. Sanjay is autistic. This is the first time I have read a book with an autistic character. And Sanjay is not a character to fade into the background. He is active and helpful throughout the storyline. I grew to love Sanjay. To be honest, he and his stuffed animal Poopy Puppy were my favorite characters. And bringing along a character who is autistic during a zombie apocalypse is not easy, but the dedication everyone showed to Sanjay was heartwarming.

I appreciated the wide cast of characters in this novel. Another of the main group was also wheelchair bound. The group did encounter difficulties you don't see in mainstream zombie pop culture because of this cast of characters. Howard Odentz did a wonderful job of showing their limitations and strengths. Just because they were disabled it didn't mean they couldn't do anything. All the characters pitched in when challenges arose.

I will admit that some of the humor in this may offend people. Tripp starts as an ignorant kid and can be smart mouthed around people who are disabled. The characters do call him out on some of the things he says, but a lot of his commentary is in his head. Keep in mind this is all part of his character development. He will grow to understand that even if you have a disability, it doesn't make you any less able.

I am looking forward to the next in this series!