Brains For Lunch: A Zombie Novel in Haiku?!

by K.A. Holt, Gahan Wilson (Illustrator)

Overview

The difference being that this middle school novel is written entirely in Haiku. Loeb, its zombie protagonist has a problem: the object of his affection, Siobhan, is a lifer (i.e. human). What to do? In scenes set around a lunch table (the menu: brains) and around the school, eyes roll and jaws drop (literally). Also featured in the cast of characters is Carl, a chupacabra (bloodsucking critter) and Mrs. Fincher, a sympathetic and seductive librarian.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781596436299
Publisher:	Roaring Brook Press
Publication date:	08/17/2010
Pages:	96
Product dimensions:	5.60(w) x 8.25(h) x 0.50(d)
Age Range:	9 - 14 Years

About the Author

K.A. Holt is a writer, a terrible cook, and a mother of three (not necessarily in that order). When she's not busy imagining how she would survive a zombie apocalypse, she's busy imagining how she will survive the day. Kirkus and Publishers Weekly praised her first book for children, MIKE STELLAR: NERVES OF STEEL, with words like precocious and complex, and savvy and sharp.

GAHAN WILSON is an author, cartoonist, and illustrator. His work has appeared in THE NEW YORKER and COLLIER'S Weekly among other publications. He is a very prolific and celebrated illustrator.

Read an Excerpt

Brains for Lunch

A Zombie Novel in Haiku?!

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By K. A. Holt, Gahan Wilson

Roaring Brook Press

Copyright © 2010 Kari Anne Roy
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-59643-629-9

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CHAPTER 1

Lunch

Brains for lunch again
"Stop moaning and just eat it."
Lunch lady humor

Dead-on lunchroom stare
Her eyes bore holes like earthworms
Soft and unyielding

"What do you want, Mags?"
I mouth words over the din
"You want my pudding?"

An eye roll response
George catches it, hands it back
An eyeball shortstop

Geek table awaits
Larry brags about fresh flesh
He is full of lies

Also full of flies
Charlie Brown's undead Pig Pen
Larry is so gross

Nothing stops my mouth
"Just shut up for once, Larry."
The fly buffet stands

"Up yours, Loeb," he says.
Then he gives me the finger
I give it back. Yuck.

"Leave Loeb alone, yo.
And move your stinking carcass."
That's Matt. He's my friend.

Larry staggers off
"Stupid, fat, fly-filled dodo."
Matt feels brave, I guess

Dissonant buzzing
Larry returns for round two
Matt gives me his tray

I step between them
Could lunch be any more dumb?
Larry takes a swing

My jawbone takes flight
I'm always in the middle
"Break it up, you guys!"

It's Mrs. Fincher
Why's the librarian here?
I guess she eats, too

"Go get your jaw, Loeb."
If my jaw was still attached
It would fall open

How does she know me?
I only gaze from afar
"Loeb! Go. Get. Your. Jaw."

It is on Mags tray
Of course that's where it would land
"Just can't shut your mouth."

Maggie grins at me
Her eyes, though, are not smiling
She hands me my bone

"Sorry 'bout that, Mags."
There's a satisfying pop
She just stares at me

Chairs are scattering
Seven minutes 'til late bell
Brain pudding, wasted

Matt's at my locker
"Makes you smarter, my main man."
He leans over me

Give him dirty look
"What are you talking about?"
"Smell my neck, playa."

"Sweat from a Lifer."
A bottle shakes in my face
Drops cling to its side

"Where did you get that?"
Matt cocks his head to the left
"From the Lifer quad?!"

I'm incredulous
"Crossed the invisible line?
You're that desperate?"

"That line is stupid."
Matt shakes the bottle again
"De-seg says it is."

Hair clumps in place. Check.
"And look how well de-seg works." I gestured around

Only Zs right here
Not a Lifer to be seen
They keep their distance

"There's a girl. Siobhan."
I eyed him skeptically
"I think she likes me."

(Continues...)

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Excerpted from Brains for Lunch by K. A. Holt, Gahan Wilson. Copyright © 2010 Kari Anne Roy. Excerpted by permission of Roaring Brook Press.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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Table of Contents

Contents

Title,
Copyright,
Dedication,
Lunch,
Library,
English 101,
Hallway,
Outside,
Girl's Lar,
Detention,
The Contest,
Library,
Siobhan's House,

Editorial Reviews

Gross-out humor and romantic tension enmesh in this clever novel told in haiku about a zombie (aka Z) named Loeb who falls for a "Lifer," Siobhan. Raising the stakes on the usual social jockeying of middle school, the Zs eat brains for lunch, which makes Lifers not only attractive but appetizing. "Try to play it cool/ She's a Lifer after all/ I could chomp her brain." Holt (Mike Stellar: Nerves of Steel) excels at wordplay and a surprisingly sophisticated brand of slapstick ("She makes my face flush/ Or, I'm just putrefying/ Either way, I'm red"). This, mixed with the astutely observed social dynamics (zombies versus humans, with chupacabras thrown in for good measure) and the haiku form, which is an ideal vehicle for the kind of halted observations one expects from the undead, makes this a standout choice for reluctant readers. New Yorker artist Wilson's gruesome pen and ink cartoons of the deformed, bug-eyed students, not all of which were seen by PW, are also an inspired match, highlighting the self-doubt and angst of the preteen years, heartbeat or not. Ages 9-14. (Aug.)

Publishers Weekly

A funny, irreverent, and unconventional verse offering that's sure to find wide curricular appeal.” —Booklist

“Gross-out humor and romantic tension enmesh in this clever novel told in haiku…a standout choice for reluctant readers.” —Publishers Weekly, STARRED review

“Middle school poetry geeks will enjoy this funny, irreverent novel in verse.” —Library Media Connection

“This intriguing book definitely has an audience–one that appreciates, quite literally, tongue-in-cheek humor.” —School Library Journal

“The shuffle-and-stop rhythm of haiku is amusingly appropriate for the zombie narrator, and Holt's use of language is consistently clever and playful.” —SLJ Teen

From the Publisher

Gr 4–8—Middle school is hard enough for the living, but for Loeb it's especially dreadful. He is a thoughtful zombie whose classmates are fellow zombies, Lifers (regular humans), and blood-sucking creatures known as Chupos. His school is a boiling pot of rivalries and segregations. Things get interesting for Loeb when the librarian (a Lifer) encourages him to read some of his haiku at open-poetry night. Subplots include a Lifer who is romantically interested in Loeb and tensions within the different groups that mount when one being mingles with another. The novel is told through a series of haiku, a form that is comically ideal for zombie dialogue. While the book appears to be an easy read, this poetic form will appeal to skilled readers who are comfortable navigating this narrative technique. The novel jumps right into the story, and readers are required to interpret the characters, setting, and situations quickly; the poetic form does not allow for detailed character and plot development and it is sometimes difficult to discern which character is speaking. Holt employs gross-out humor that will appeal to her audience: the zombies' bodies are constantly falling apart and the novel begins, appropriately, with a haiku about eating brains, "Brains for lunch again/'Stop moaning and just eat it.'/Lunch lady humor." Wilson's pen-and-ink illustrations complement the text and zombies are shown as creatures surrounded by flies, swarming with worms, and constantly struggling to keep their bodies intact. This intriguing book definitely has an audience—one that appreciates, quite literally, tongue-in-cheek humor.—Shawn Brommer, South Central Library System, Madison, WI

School Library Journal