Booklist Review

Higgins vigorously stirs both horror and hilarity into this series opener, which introduces a crew of eager, young zombie hunters that includes one partly undead member; he was licked by a zombie but not fully bitten. Having found new evidence that a troop of Guppy Scouts who disappeared years ago after a nuclear plant's radiation leak were zombified, 11-year-old investigator Leo, shambling half zombie Roger (who lives in the secret lab behind Leo's closet), and other friends drive to the summer camp where the incident occurred. A side effort to clean up a scummy lake nearby sparks a terrifying attack by the scouts, who have been transformed into aquatic, fish-headed zombies with, luckily, more of a taste for algae than for braaaiiinnnsss. Case closed. Though Leo is the point-of-view character, Roger, who keeps losing body parts and in one gross scene literally gives Leo a piece of his mind, steals the show. It requires no brains to predict that this and ensuing sequels will get a warm reception from readers.--John Peters Copyright 2020 Booklist