Undead

Out of sight, out of their minds: It's a school-trip splatter fest and completely not cool when the other kids in her class go all braindead on new girl Bobby.The day of the ski trip, when the bus comes to a stop at a roadside restaurant, everyone gets off and heads in for lunch. Everyone, that is, except Bobby, the new girl, who stays behind with rebel-without-a-clue Smitty. Then hours pass. Snow piles up. Sun goes down. Bobby and Smitty start to flirt. Start to stress. Till finally they see the other kids stumbling back. But they've changed. And not in a good way. Straight up, they're zombies. So the wheels on the bus better go round and round freakin' fast, because that's the only thing keeping Bobby and Smitty from becoming their classmates' next meal. It's kill or be killed in these hunger games, heads are gonna roll, and homework is most definitely gonna be late.Combining the chill of THE SHINING, the thrill ride of SPEED, the humor of SHAUN OF THE DEAD, and the angst of THE BREAKFAST CLUB, Kirsty McKay's UNDEAD is a bloody mad mash-up, a school-trip splatter-fest, a funny, gory, frighteningly good debut!

From Booklist

Zombies, the monster du jour, are sure to win any current battle royal with vampires and werewolves, and this British import is packed with them. When a bus of high-school students on a class trip gets stranded at a snowed-in Scottish rest stop, most of the teens, along with other travelers, turn into the drooling, flesh-eating undead. Only Bobby (aka Roberta), the wisecracking narrator, and three others who fit neatly into stereotypes—slacker, pretty bubblehead, and nerd—are left standing. When McKay sticks to the comic interplay between the foursome, the novel is fun to devour, but when the plot takes a turn at the end into a conspiracy thriller, things begin to fall apart. Clearly the story is meant to be resolved in a sequel. More satiric Shaun of the Dead than dramatic The Walking Dead, this includes plenty of jump-out-of-your-seat moments with unusual venues—the luggage hold of a bus, a Scottish castle with a wine cellar and a dungeon—and should be popular with teens who can’t get enough goose-bump thrills. Grades 7-10. --Karen Cruze

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

A crimson trail leads from the puddle to the front of the bus."What the . . . ?" Smitty backs up into me.The screech comes again, closer this time. I stare into the snow, eyes straining. A vague shape is stumbling in the whiteness. "Move!" Smitty is behind me now, in the driver's seat. He slams the lever and the door unfolds shut. "Hey!" I protest, then fall back in shock as the screech appears at the door, slapping hard and fast. Through the glass I see baby blue and yellow, a bundle of blonde hair, and shiny pink nails scraping the glass. "Open the door!" I shout at Smitty. And when he doesn't obey, I scrabble up the steps and hit the lever myself.A manic figure propels itself into the bus. It's Alice Hicks. She lifts her head, black mascara dripping down her pretty face."Dead!" she screams. "Everybody's dead!"

About the Author

KIRSTY McKAY, born in the UK, now lives in Boston, Massachusetts. She has written and acted in several children's plays for regional theater. UNFED is the sequel to her debut novel, UNDEAD. Visit her website at www.kirstymckay.com and follow her on Twitter @kirkybean.

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