Module 11: Zombie Makers: True Stories of Nature's Undead

Book Summary

We all know that the zombies we see in popular culture are not real, but there are zombie makers out there among us! This book tells about creatures, parasites, and fungi that take over the bodies and brains of other creatures. The book uses flashy graphics, references to pop culture, well researched facts, and shocking pictures to engage the reader into learning more about these little known creatures. 

APA Reference of the Book
Johnson, Rebecca. (2013). Zombie makers: True stories of nature's undead. Minneapolis, MN: Milbrook Press.

Impression
This book has all the elements of a popular and well done informational book. It is visually appealing. Uses text features to engage the reader and provide them with visually interesting information. The book is very well researched and as flashy and visually appealing as it is, it has even stronger scientific research and information behind it. I can just see this book flying off the shelves to upper elementary students. However, I did not like it! The pictures completely grossed me out and while the information was presented well, learning about undead animals is certainly not something I want to spend my time doing. I have a pretty big fear of raccoons. The chapter about the rabid racoons was way too much for me. While I would never want to read this book again, I would certainly have it in my collection. 

Professional Review

With the popularity of zombie books and movies today, can you imagine a student’s excitement when seeing this title? How cool! And it’s not science fiction, it’s science…carefully researched and documented. Zombie makers, which may be a fungus, parasite, insect, or worm, take control of animals by injecting them either through the bloodstream or brain and making them their zombie “slaves.” Clear, close-up photographs (some on a microscopic level) document both the process of paralysis and the results, which are described on a behavioral as well as a cellular level. After the general description of the zombie-making process, there is a section titled “The Science Behind the Story.” The biology and physiology of the process are described at a middle school level so that students can understand not only the zombie makers’ behavior and life-cycles, but also what is happening internally in the host animals. As an added bonus, the scientists who researched the phenomena are documented and their experiments and research activities described. I highly recommend this book, which will appeal to all readers. Teachers, please give your students a chance to enjoy this book, too!

Schoen-Giddings, L. (2013). Zombie makers: True stories of nature's undead. Science Scope, 36(7), 108. 

Library Uses
While I can see this book flying off the shelves, it would also be a great book to focus on in a display to lead students to other similar books. Zombies are currently very popular in pop culture right now. Librarians could capitalize on it to create a zombie themed display to draw students into the library. Other titles to consider including would be: Diary of a Zombie Kid, anything from the Zombie Chaser series, My Big Fat Zombie Goldfish.