Ashby, Amanda. Zombie Queen of Newbury High. Speak. March 2009. ISBN: 978-1-4395-9474-2. Gr 9-12.
-- School Library Journal, 4/15/2009
Fairies, werewolves, pixies, vampires, and now zombies. We're running out of monsters! What's next? An angst-ridden look at the Russian Baba Yaga's life? A story about a mummy who just wants someone to love?
Of course, I jest. Sort of. Zombie Queen of Newbury High is about well... the Zombie Queen of Newbury High. Mia is a self-proclaimed loser who has attracted the attention of a football player, who has asked her to prom. When the bland, generic football player's generically bitchy ex-girl friend decides to "steal [him] back" Mia decides to employ a love spell so that the football player will love her and forget about his ex.
Taking leave of her senses, Mia buys a love potion and sets it off. Only, oops, it’s not a love potion. It's a zombie potion (?). Hilarity and hijinks ensue when Mia has to undo the spell, decide between two gorgeous boys in love with her, blah blah.
Quite frankly, Zombie Queen of Newbury High is a highly formulaic high school romance story with zombies thrown in. It wouldn't rise above the rest of the drivel out there if not for one thing: it doesn't suck.
King Lear, it ain't. Zombie Queen of Newbury High delivers on its premise: A fun, zombie-plagued time waster. It's not good, but it does not suck. It's a fun, if not an ambitious or ground-breaking read. So, if you're looking for a silly fluff book with some super natural elements, I can heartily recommend Zombie Queen of Newbury High.
Now if you'll excuse me, I have a book about the Baba Yaga to write.—Meghan K., age 14This review is from a member of the Teens Know "Best" YA Galley Group of the St. Paul Public Library and the Metropolitan State University Library and Learning Center (MN), a part of YALSA's Young Adult Galley/Teen Top Ten Project which uses 15 public libraries and school library media centers from across the country to provide feedback to publishers of young adult books.
