Steven's Notebook

Look Ma - No Hands!

Zombie Baseball Beatdown, by Paolo Bacigalupi

More zombie cows, this time in the United States. Zombie Baseball Beatdown book coverIt sounds like one of those books you think will be silly, gross and the perfect book for middle-school boys. And yes, that is true, but there’s more to Zombie Baseball Beatdown.

“There could be millions! Total zombie apocalypse!” Joe said then he looked thoughtful. “That would be pretty cool, actually. I mean, if they didn’t all want to chew our brains out.”
Trust Joe to find the bright side of the zombie apocalypse.

Rabi is an Indian-American, and is bullied by others on his baseball team. When things go wrong at the town meat packing plant, he and his friends Miguel and Joe get quite an adventure. Along the way Rabi (and the readers) get lessons in how power works in a capitalist society, what it’s like to live in fear of deportation, and some of the seedier sides of the factory farm industry.

That’s not to say this isn’t a fun book; it is, and of course a little violent and gross. Isn’t that why we read zombie books?

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