Generation Dead by Daniel Waters

November 10th, 2008 at 8:33pm |

Audience: High School

Rating: A

Synopsis:

Oakvale High has your typical cliques: the goths, the jocks, the brains, etc… but there’s also a strange, new, and growing group: the zombies. It’s not politically correct to call them zombies anymore; they’re now the ‘living impaired.’ And Phoebe’s got a problem: she’s very intrigued by Tommy, the zombie who’s breaking all the social rules and trying out for the football team. Why is that a problem? Most of the world isn’t nearly as tolerant of the undead, and some will stop at nothing to put them back in their graves.

Chatter:

(Spoiler Alerts! )

I loved this book and I’m amazed that it’s Water’s first novel. He’s got Catherine Gilbert Murdock’s gift of characterization and Chris Crutcher’s gift of interwoven plots that take on social issues. Throughout my reading I kept telling myself, this world he’s created is way too amazing for this to be a stand alone novel, so I’m thrilled to hear he’s working on a second book (Kiss of Life) and that he doesn’t plan to stop after two.

Personally, I hope that things work out for Adam with Phoebe. In retrospect it seems inevitable that Adam would be zombified – he was too good and too pure. Plus, it now adds a whole new layer of conflict to the drama between Tommy, Phee, and Adam. My prediction: by the time Adam’s regained enough body function to tell Phoebe how he feels, she’ll have declared her love for Tommy. Or will Phoebe feel so guilty that she’ll feel like she has to be with Adam? Hmmm, lots of possibilities.

Tommy… hmm, I’m not so sure what I think of him. I don’t like him nearly as much as Adam, but that could be because most of the book was from Adam’s perspective. But Tommy didn’t do himself any favors when he posted about homecoming or presented his case to Phoebe by saying that he wanted ‘someone’ to love and kiss him. Also, the fact that he sometimes speaks fine and other times pauses makes me suspicious. I feel like some of the zombies might be acting more ‘undead’ than they are because they’re scared to show how highly they’re functioning.

I hope that the fact that Adam spent the whole book struggling to finish Wuthering Heights isn’t going to be significant. No one ends up with a happily ever after in that book, and it revolves around a love triangle comprised of two boys and a girl. (Although, Phoebe is much too likeable to be likened to Catherine).