Dazzled by Books

"Once Upon a Zombie" by Billy Phillips and Jenny Nissenson was a very fun to read middle grade novel. Fourteen year old Caitlin is the new kid at a London academy. When she gets tricked into visiting Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (Lewis Carroll) grave site at night when she is supposed to be at a school dance. She ends up going down the grave hole (Rabbit hole) like "Alice in Wonderland". When Caitlin ends up in this other world, she meets several zombified princesses that want her help. With the request from Snow White, Cinderella, Rapunzel, and Sleeping Beauty; Caitlin is now on a mission to save their world from evil magic.

Caitlin is now on a mission to capture the Queen of Hearts' magic scepter to help the princesses to save their world. When Caitlin's younger sister Natalie becomes zombified, Caitlin begins to panic because she doesn't want to lose her sister. With many other fairytale characters that have been zombified and Caitlin on a road to self discovery this is a story that you won't want to miss.

I really liked Caitlin's character. I thought she was written really well because she seems so real to the reader. Caitlin has fears and worries just like every other person. The problem that Caitlin has, is that she lets her fears ruler her life. Caitlin was able to learn a very valuable lesson of how to overcome her fears. As I followed Caitlin on her journey I became so proud of her as she was becoming more brave and trusting in herself. The way Caitlin wanted to save and protect her sister at all costs. I loved that about her character. Caitlin may have been afraid of her own shadow but she won't be anymore. One of the major things about Caitlin is that she was able to become a better version of herself.

I thought the writing of "Once Upon a Zombie" was really good. I enjoyed the writing a lot. Phillips and Nissenson were able to hook me as the reader right away and kept me addicted throughout the entire story. I thought the whole Zombie take on the fairy tale characters was really unique and entertaining. I feel like the authors did a good job at keeping the story good and wholesome for middle grade readers. This is definitely a book I would recommend to the young crowd.