Enter the Zombie (Nathan Abercrombie, Accidental Zombie) by David Lubar

Nathan Abercrombie, Accidental Zombie #5

by David Lubar

When Mr. Murphy finds out that evil organization RABID is using a student academic and athletic competition to recruit agents, he asks Nathan, Abigail, and Mookie to form a team and enter the contest. Things go terribly wrong when Nathan’s nemesis, Rodney the bully, forms his own team to go up against Nathan. Soon Rodney and his pals start to notice some very odd things about Nathan. Will they discover Nathan’s secret and expose his zombie identity to the entire world?

Genres: Childrens, Zombies, Middle Grade

Paperback

First published January 4, 2011

About the author

David Lubar created a sensation with his debut novel, Hidden Talents, an ALA Best Book for Young Adults. Thousands of kids and educators across the country have voted Hidden Talents onto over twenty state lists. David is also the author of True Talents, the sequel to Hidden Talents; Flip, an ALA Best Book for Young Adults and a VOYA Best Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror selection; several short story collections: In the Land of the Lawn Weenies, Invasion of the Road Weenies, The Curse of the Campfire Weenies, The Battle of the Red Hot Pepper Weenies, and Attack of the Vampire Weenies; and the Nathan Abercrombie, Accidental Zombie series. Lubar grew up in Morristown, New Jersey, and he has also lived in New Brunswick, Edison and Piscataway, NJ, and Sacramento, CA. Besides writing, he has also worked as a video game programmer and designer. He now lives in Nazareth, Pennsylvania.

http://us.macmillan.com/author/davidl...

Reviews

[Sarah W · Rating 4 out of 5]

For Nathan Abercrombie, time is running out before there will be no hiding that he is a zombie. His body is getting soft and he has to keep squishing his features back into the shape they should have. Falling to pieces is far from his only worry. Mr. Murphy, Nathan's mentor and leader of the Bureau of Useful Misadventures, needs Nathan and his two closest friends to take part in the Brainy Brawny Ultimate Athletic and Academic Competition. Mr. Murphy wants Nathan, Mookie and Abigail in the competition because of its connection to RABID (Raise Anarchy by Inciting Disorder). No one from Nathan's school has ever competed before in Brainy Brawny, but what should be a shoe in for Nathan's team becomes worrisome when a second team enters, one with bully Rodney and braniac Eddy. Before the competition, Nathan is dunked in a bone-strengthening treatment to keep things from snapping. A whirlwind visit from Abigail's scientist uncle leaves Nathan barely daring to hope for a cure to his condition. He has to choose between helping to save the world and saving himself.

This book had me as a reader from the introduction. "Winter is over. I used to like spring. But when you're dead, and trying not to rot too fast, the last thing you look forward to is warm air and sunshine." I had never thought of the dangers of warm air for zombies before. I also liked the somewhat sarcastic edge to the narrator's voice.

Enter the Zombie was the first book I've read in the Nathan Abercrombie, Accidental Zombie series. It happens to be the last book in the series, but David Lubar included just enough back ground material that I was able to leap right in and enjoy the read.

This book is sure to appeal to upper elementary school readers who like the combination of humor and the grotesque. I'd like to pitch this book to readers who enjoy Dav Pilkey. The cover art for this books does a fantastic job of representing the heart of the book - the t-shirt represents the Brawny Brainy competition, it has the slightly disgusting elements of rotting and is appropriately zany looking.

[Adam N]

I am currently reading, Enter the Zombie by David Lubar. I am at the part where Nathan, the main character joins a secret agency called Bum. Nathan is a zombie and has many spies trying to take him. I was surprised that Nathan joined Bum, because he didn't trust them and was against them in the beginning. Another agency called Rabid is trying to take Nathan, but Bum is protecting him from them.
I like the way the author describes how Nathan feels when he finds out he is a zombie. He is scared, but in some ways excited to be able to do things humans can't do. I also think that Nathan feels important because all these agencies want him for some reason or the other. I can relate to this because I was once having a nerf war and both teams tried to take me so I would fight for them.
So far I am enjoying reading this book, and I am looking forward to seeing how Nathan protects himself from being taken away by Rabid.

[Edgar Villasenor · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nathan's agent said, " We need you, Abigail, and Nookie to enter the contest, so we could destroy RABID." So did sign up, and they won the first place. After that they went to a collage for the next competition. They won again. And the last competition was at Washington D.C. I liked the book because it got bored when I read 20 pages, but after more it was really interesting. I recommend this book to the 5th graders because Nathan turns into a zombie in the middle of the page. I know that the 5th graders like zombies.

[Patti · Rating 5 out of 5]

The 5th book in a 5-book series! Quite a nice wrap-up of the series. I have read the series from the beginning and it was great to read a comprehensive story that followed an arc through all 5, but each had their own storyline and focus. Funny, serious, and relatable, this series was a delight.

[Luanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great series. I hope this is not the last book.
Nathan is a great character.
This series would be great for Christmas gifts.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one did feel like the culmination of the series and was a good end.