Zomboy
By: Richard Scrimger
“Unique and sharply funny, Zomboy is a big-hearted winner.”
–Kenneth
Oppel
Plot
After surviving a nuclear blast, young Imre Lazar is transformed into a zombie. Oh! Sorry, I meant to say zomboy. After being “adopted” by the military, he is placed in a normal classroom, in a normal school; located in Ontario. Bob-along with a large majority of the town-are highly against Imre being in a school (and/or class) and socializing with the living.
However Evil-O, Bob’s best friend,
seems very fond of Imre. After a period of time, Imre becomes an internet
sensation, even receiving his own T.V show documenting his life. People all
over the world begin to discover his many talents (most of them perks of being
undead)
and finally Bob begins to open up and accept this strange new student.
But just when Bob is becoming comfortable around Imre, he begins to notice some
strange things that are happening in Imre’s private life that’s not being
filmed; and the suspicious, angry attitude that Imre’s military “guardian” held
was not helping the case. Imre eventually tells Bob his secret…but it put the
whole town at risk when he was finally being accepted for his differences, and
more importantly, Bob and Evil-O’s friendship is ultimately put to the test.
I think that the story line was very
interesting; it certainly kept me interested throughout the novel and portrayed
a very strong message about accepting other people's differences. The plot generally
flowed smoothly, with no repetitiveness throughout the story. However there
were times when I was a bit bored but there were also times when I felt very
excited to keep reading!
Voice
This was a narrative first person
perspective novel, told from Bob’s point of view. I think that this was a good
idea because Richard Scrimger described Bob’s feelings and emotions very well
throughout the novel and you can sense whenever Bob is feeling sad, happy,
jealous, scared etc. However, I think this novel could be improved by adding in
sections that were written in Imre’s or Evil-O’s point of view because both of
these characters had very interesting stories and I would have liked to see how
they react to certain situations as well as compare their character development
to Bob’s.
Setting
This story took place in Dresden, Ontario.
At some points of the novel, the
author does briefly describe the town and weather: “Dresden is flat, but I
walked home feeling like every step was uphill.” In which I assumed that
Dresden doesn't have many hills."The sun was about to pop out from behind
a fluffy cloud," in which I assumed that Dresden generally has nice weather
in September (which is when the story takes place) and "Dinky little trees
stood on front lawns up and down Westwood Avenue like soldiers on a
parade," in which I assumed that Bob and Evil-O lived in a fairly new
community because the trees are small and newly grown. Near the end, it also
states that Imre trudges into a cornfield, in which I assumed that his house
was located away from the rural community and out in the country, looking
something like this:
Aside from those facts, the author
(Richard Scrimger) didn't describe any other specific details about what the
setting looked like. However, I sometimes like that about books, because you
can fully use your imagination. Most of the story takes place in their school, though
with no specific details. There are also parts of the story that take place in
Bob’s house, Imre’s house, Evil-O’s house and generally outside (walking or
biking down the street, sitting on porches or in backyards etc.).
Characters
The three main characters in this
novel were Bob, Imre and Evil-O. I think that the characters were well
conceived and written because they all have very different, unique personalities.
Bob is the shy, neat freak; Evil-O is the crazy, carefree friend and Imre is,
well, he's Imre. He can fall off two story buildings onto concrete, split
pianos in half and eventually becomes a celebrity. I think that this plot
really shows how Bob generally grows and matures as a person and gradually accepts other
people's differences, while Evil-O is nice and accepting from the beginning,
and Imre grows to trust people other than his military "guardians."
Some of the other characters would
be Susan, who was part of the town's protest against Imre being in a
school/class with the living along with her mother.
Calvin is the bully of the school,
he hates everyone and abuses Bob verbally and physically many times. Gezink is
the very strange, geeky character that is constantly hanging around Bob, Evil-O
and Imre. I also think that it is interesting how all the characters in Bob's
class falls into a classic stereotype. For instance, Susan is the teacher's pet
and she'll do anything to be the favourite. Andrew is the nerd of the class,
sitting at the front so he can answer any question that comes up. Debbie and
Dakota are the mean divas etc. I think that all of the characters are very much
believable (except for Imre) because I have met people who resemble the
personalities of the characters in this book. There was a wide variety of
personalities within the novel and I think that they all fit in with the story
very well.
Theme
I think the theme of the book would
definitely be humor, with some action and romance thrown into the mix. There
were multiple parts in the novel that made me smile or even laugh out loud. For
example, when Imre is overly gloomy, when Bob makes a bad joke or that one part
when someone gets stung by a hornet. Bob also develops a romantic
interest in Evil-O, and becomes highly jealous when Evil-O befriends Imre.
Near
the end, there is an action, suspense part (no spoilers!).
Conclusion
In conclusion, I think this book was
enjoyable to read. My favourite thing about the storyline/plot would be how
Bob's character matured into a better person and finally accepted Imre's
differences, while learning to stand up for himself and the others around him.
This also teaches the readers to accept people for who they are. I do think it
could be improved by including parts where the story is viewed from Evil-O
and/or Imre's perspective. I also like how the characters in the book are all
contrasting and the plot included no repetitiveness. Using your imagination to
picture the setting of this novel is pleasant as well.
In the end, I give this book 3.5 out of 5 stars ^-^
good job
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