March 18, 2011 Week 1

Give the title, author, publisher, copyright date, genre (how do you know the genre - from the back of the book, the title page, the text?), a description of the cover of the book, and the main character(s) you have met so far and on what page you first met them.

I am rereading Nathan Abercombie, Acciental Zombie Book 1 : My Rotten Life by David Lubar which was published in 2009 by A Tom Doherty Associates, LLC.

The genre of my book is a science fiction with a dash of teenage angst (anxiety). I used the back of the title to determine this, however I had to "piece" the clues together. The keywords on the back of the title page were : selfconfidence, popularity, schools, and zombies. Ms. Luthey helped me to put these clues together, she said that the first three clues equal "fiction about teenagers" and that zombies aren't real so that means it is science fiction. Thanks Ms. Luthey!

My daughter, Marie, first suggested this book to me and when she showed me the cover I was totally sold! As you can see above it is busy but eye catching. The title, in all caps, is at the top. The author's name, in all caps, is at the bottom. In between the words, is a huge cartoon picture of a young boy who is looking at his hand that is turning green with the thumb missing (this is what REALLY grabbed my attention). Along the sides are pictures of two other students, a crazy looking guy (must be a mad scientist) and scientific beakers. If you are predicting that the story is about an experiment that goes wrong and causes body parts to fall off - then you are so close!

I am reading this book to some students and so far we are on page 13 (chapter one starts on page 11). The story starts in the school cafeteria during the 5th grader's lunch hour. We have met the narrator, Nathan, on page 11; along with the popular snob Shawna, who also is the girl "he has had a crush on since 3rd grade" (pg. 13). On page 12 we meet the 5th graders who sit at the Second Bester's Table, which includes Nathan and his best friend Mookie. We also meet, on pages 12 & 13) some of the students who sit at the Table of the Doomed, including Snail Girl (who wears snail barettes and has a snail lunchbox) and Abigal, who according to pg. 13, "came here last year from outer space and still seems to live in deep space." Finally, we meet Shawna's pack of girlfriends on page 13: Cydnie, Tallisa, Bekka, and Lexi.

I really enjoyed this book the first time around because of all the figurative language used by the narrator/author and hillarious moments that the narrator talks about. I made many connections to my years in elementary and middle/high school as well as to The Wimpy Kid, Goonies, and Harry Potter. I can't wait to rediscover the fun!