Undead Ed (Undead Ed Series #1)

by Rotterly Ghoulstone, Nigel Baines (Illustrator)

Overview

When Ed Bagley wakes up in a yucky sewer --and discovers he's a zombie-- things can't get any weirder! That is, until his evil arm scurries off his shoulder and into the town of Mortlake to cause all sorts of trouble.

Un-armed and dangerous, Ed teams up with his werewolf buddy Max Moon to track down his rogue limb and save Mortlake from the evil at the center of it all.

This formerly unlucky kid is out to prove he really is all guts! But when he's faced with gross ghouls, wormy wraiths, freaky fat babies, and some seriously sinister clowns, will Ed and his undead friends have enough skin on their bones to save the day? Or will this arm-y prove too tough to hand-le?

Hilariously illustrated zombie antics make this the perfect next book for fans of Zombiekins!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781101590713
Publisher:	Penguin Young Readers Group
Publication date:	08/16/2012
Series:	Undead Ed Series , #1
Sold by:	Penguin Group
Format:	eBook
Pages:	224
Lexile:	940L (what's this?)
File size:	10 MB
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

Rotterly Ghoulstone wrote Undead Ed to work off a terrible curse inherited from his great-grandfather. Before creating the series, he'd fallen down the stairs, been hit by a flying tennis racket, nearly drowned in a swamp, crashed his bike into the side of the family greenhouse, and almost choked to death on an oyster in a fancy restaurant. He doesn't know what will happen to him if he ever stops writing about Undead Ed . . . but he has a feeling it's bound to be something bad.

Nigel Baines is just trying to stay out of the way of Rotterly Ghoulstone's family curse. He lives in London, England.

Editorial Reviews

Gr 6–8—Ed Bagley was unlucky in life and isn't faring any better in death. Hit by a truck on his 13th birthday, he wakes up in a sewer to find his left arm has torn itself off from his body and is crawling away, threatening to kill Ed should they meet again. He's also become a zombie, and his hometown of Mortlake is full of unseen vampires, werewolves, and ghouls. As Ed tries to get the hang of life after death, he's mentored by "Dead Buddy" Max, a werewolf. Together they fight the creepy creatures that inhabit Mortlake's underworld. Their ultimate enemy: Ed's left arm, which has been possessed by the spirit of a cursed circus clown and is wreaking havoc on the entire undead population. In the climax, Ed's newfound courage and abilities as "Undead Ed" help him exorcise the spirit from his rogue arm, reattach it, and anticipate his next adventure. Heavy on humor, this book is an uneasy mix. Cartoonlike illustrations and gross-out hyperbole ("you stink worse than my last dump") appeal to upper elementary readers. However, mature expressions ("it didn't just suck. It blew," "I'm a badass") and vocabulary ("arcane," "fetid," "erstwhile") suggest middle school reluctant readers as the target audience.—M. Kozikowski, Sachem Public Library, Holbrook, NY

School Library Journal

Bad enough being a newly undead nerd...but Ed's renegade left arm is trying to kill him! After several strange near-accidents, 13-year-old Ed Bagley wakes up dead. Before that shock wears off, he finds his left arm missing--and then out of nowhere it attacks him! Once he escapes his possessed left arm, he meets Max Moon, a teen werewolf who has been designated his "Dead Buddy." Thank goodness, Max can introduce Ed to Jemini and Evil Clive, who (at least according to Max) have some answers to newly zombified Ed's questions. Suffice to say, Ed is underwhelmed by the answers, but he is thankful for the help in avoiding the fat baby ghouls and, most importantly, in finding his arm, beating it and reattaching it. British children's author David Lee Stone attempts a third leap across the pond under a second pseudonym with, as before, mixed results. (Writing as "David Grimstone," he created the Gladiator Boy series with James de la Rue.) The British-to-American translation is inconsistent and may confuse, and the illustrations often don't match the descriptions in the text. Fans of silly, gory zombie fiction can do better, but the large type and brisk pace make this a possibility for the more reluctant readers among them. Two sequels out already in the U.K. may follow. Discriminating readers may want to look elsewhere. (Funny horror. 9-12)

Kirkus Reviews