First published 2010
Benny Imura faces his fifteenth birthday in post-apocalyptic America with dread. The settlement requires all teenagers to find work or accept half rations. Benny refuses to join his older brother Tom as a zombie hunter. The job seems boring and pointless. Tom just kills zombies for money while Benny dreams of something more exciting. But with no other options available, Benny reluctantly agrees to apprentice with his brother. He expects to spend his days destroying mindless creatures for cash. Instead, Tom shows him a different side of zombie hunting. The work involves more than simple extermination. Tom teaches Benny to see the zombies as former people who deserve respect. The brothers venture beyond the settlement's protective fence into the dangerous wasteland. Benny discovers that survival requires more than violence. He must learn compassion, courage, and what separates the living from the dead. The zombie-filled wilderness becomes his classroom for understanding humanity itself.
Genres: adventure, action, post-apocalyptic, apocalyptic
Vibes: atmospheric, emotional, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: fish-out-of-water, found-family
Setting: America
Period: Post-Apocalyptic
458 pages · Hardcover · Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers
Content warnings: violence