About This Book
Reach for this book when your teenager is grappling with difficult questions about social justice, the abuse of power, or the moral weight of their own choices. Set against the backdrop of a visceral zombie apocalypse in London, this third installment in the Zom-B series follows B Smith as she navigates a city overrun by monsters and even more dangerous human ideologies. It is a gritty, fast-paced horror story that uses the zombie trope as a lens for examining systemic racism and the courage required to stand against the status quo. While the gore and horror elements are intense, they serve a larger purpose: challenging readers to think about identity and integrity when the world falls apart. Parents should choose this for 12 to 17 year olds who enjoy high stakes action but are ready for 'uncomfortable' conversations about how prejudice can be used as a tool for control. It is a challenging read that rewards critical thinking and empathy in the face of fear.
What Parents Should Know
Sensitive Topics
1. DISTRESS: The book contains visceral descriptions of body horror, including the eating of human brains and graphic combat. There is a scene involving the torture of a captive that is particularly intense. The depiction of systemic racism and hate speech (used by villainous characters) is intentionally jarring and designed to provoke a strong emotional response regarding injustice. 2. CONVERSATION: Be ready to discuss how extremists use times of crisis to spread hateful ideologies. The book features characters using racist rhetoric to justify their actions, which provides a concrete opportunity to discuss the history of white supremacy and how it can be challenged by individual moral courage.
Ideal Reader
A 14-year-old fan of horror cinema who is starting to notice social inequities and wants a story that doesn't sugarcoat the difficulty of doing the right thing.
Parent Prep
Preview the chapters involving the skinhead gang to understand how the author uses their hate speech to frame them as the true monsters. A child asking, 'Why are the humans in this book sometimes scarier than the zombies?'
Age Experience
Younger teens (12-13) will likely focus on the survival horror and the 'gross-out' factor of the zombies. Older teens will more clearly grasp the political allegory and the critique of institutionalized prejudice.
What Makes It Special
Shan subverts the typical zombie survival story by making the protagonist one of the 'monsters' and placing the focus squarely on the fight against bigotry.
Read plot summary
B Smith, a revitalized zombie with her consciousness intact, navigates a ruined London. She encounters various survivor factions, including a group of skinheads and a mysterious figure known as the Owlman. As B seeks a way to resist the encroaching undead hordes, she must also confront the hateful ideologies of her past and the corrupt leaders seeking to build a new world order based on exclusion and violence.
This overview was generated by AI based on the book's content and reviews, and may not capture every nuance.
Discussion Prompts
1
B is a zombie who kept her mind. How does being an 'outsider' change the way she sees the human survivors?
2
The characters in the book use fear to control others. In what ways do we see fear used to influence people in our own world?
3
Why does the author make the human villains just as scary, if not scarier, than the zombies?
4
B has to decide who to trust in a world where everyone is looking out for themselves. What qualities make someone a 'good' person in a hopeless situation?
