"Zombiekins" by Kevin Bolger

207 pages

Fourth-grader Stanley has always been kind of a wimp; his friend Miranda is the one who is tough. And yet Stanley is the one who decides to buy Zombiekins, the creepy-looking stuffed animal in the crazy Widow's garage sale. Despite the Widow's warnings, Stanley throws the instructions away and brings Zombiekins to school to show the other kids. But after they're exposed to Zombiekins, strange things begin to happen to Stanley's classmates and, with Miranda's help, he has to learn to be brave.

I loved this book! The tone and style reminded me of "The Strange Case of Origami Yoda," which I thought was fantastic. I really like the illustrations that are scattered among the text. The kids are wacky and funny, while the adults are completely clueless, which was the way I viewed things when I was in fourth grade. The plot itself wasn't especially clever or special, but the characters charmed me so much that I didn't care too much.