From School Library Journal

Gr 5-7–Seventh-grader Zack Clarke's suburban Phoenix neighborhood seems normal–until almost everyone mysteriously transforms into a zombie. Zack, his geeky friend Rice, and his eighth-grade sister Zoe's glamorous but snarky friend Madison are seemingly the only ones unaffected. That means that all the zombies in the neighborhood–including Zoe–are determined to devour them. They need to defend themselves but can only find a plastic baseball bat and a fire extinguisher. Meanwhile, Zack and Zoe's parents are at a parent-teacher night at their school–do they even know what's going on? This first volume in a new series leaves readers hanging at the end, but it's a quick, fun read, loaded with jokes and middle-school sarcasm. Kloepfer's descriptions of the zombies and their feeding habits, and Wolfhard's cartoon characters with guts and drool hanging out, are not for the faint of heart (or weak of stomach).–Walter Minkel, Austin Public Library, TXα(c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

From Booklist

The two-page illustration that opens this macabre madcap sums it up: a cityscape crowded with roughly 30 people, all of whom would be kind of cute if they weren't leaking brains, gushing blood, and dropping appendages. What makes this latest entry into the developing middle-grade zombie canon stand out is Kloepfer's gleeful insistence on gore—intestines slop, flesh liquefies, and one character collects severed fingers in a baggie. The plot itself is perfunctory. After a sudden zombie apocalypse hits Phoenix, seventh-grader Zack, fashion-plate Madison, and best-buddy Rice navigate the hungry hoards with makeshift weapons, lots of name-brand products, and plenty of snark, calling one another “loser,” “dork,” and “freakazoid” at every opportunity. It's Wolfhard's squiggly drawings, appearing on nearly every page, that really bring the laughs (and the gagging), especially his gruesome chapter numbers. Along the way, the makeshift monster squad comes up with both cause and cure for the virus, as well as a reason to stick around for the next vomitous volume. Grades 4-6. --Daniel Kraus