Generation Dead intrigued me from the moment I saw the cover, and most of the book was very good. I liked the new spin on the zombie story, since I have always found zombies to be rather pointless and boring. But the last thirty pages or so really let me down. It feels like the author ran out of ideas and could not find a way to bring the story to a conclusion. I would give the book more stars if the ending had not been such a disappointment. For a first novel it was very creative and I enjoyed reading most of it. Even though I did not like the way the book ended, I hope to read more from this promising author.

In its Brown v. Board of Education decision of 1954, the Supreme Court ruled that separate schools for black and white students were unconstitutional. The schools for whites were often superior to their counterparts for black students and consequently the separate schools offered very different educational opportunities. This ruling was key to the civil rights movement and efforts to end segregation.

On September 3, 1957, nine black students were barred from entry into Little Rock Central High School in Arkansas. By September 23, after another court decision ruled that Arkansas' governor could not keep them out, the Little Rock Nine were able to begin their school year in the white high school. President Eisenhower also sent the 101st Airborne Division to Little Rock to help protect the black students from harassment that ranged from insults to acid being thrown into one student's face.

Eight of the Little Rock Nine finished the school year at the Central High. In May of 1958 Ernest Green graduated from the school, the only minority in his graduating class of 602 students.
Fifty years later, Daniel Waters' debut novel Generation Dead offers a new take on integration and the fight for civil rights. In Oakvale, Connecticut parents and students alike are worried about the new students transferring to Oakvale High to benefit from the school's program of integration. Some of the new students are minorities, some of them are not. The reason all of the new students prove worrisome to some locals is more fundamental: The new students are dead.

All over the country, dead teenagers are waking up and rejoining the living--more or less. Called "living impaired" or "differently biotic" by a politically correct society, many of the undead kids prefer the term "zombie." No one knows why some teenagers come back and some don't. The only certainty is that everything changed the moment these zombies began trying to reconnect with the world of the living.

Unfortunately, some (living) people would prefer to have the zombies stay dead. Permanently. Everyone child knows that names can never hurt them, but for undead teens that don't heal sticks and stones suddenly seem much more dangerous, especially when the government has no laws to protect differently biotic citizens. After all, citizenship is supposed to expire when the citizen does, isn't it?

In Generation Dead integration doesn't start with a court decision detailing undead rights. Instead it starts with Tommy Williams trying out for the football team. Dead for about a year, no one expects Tommy to survive tryouts, let alone make the team. Except that he does.

Suddenly, the zombies don't seem quite so different. Phoebe Kendall, a traditionally biotic (albeit pale) student, realizes that better than anyone as she begins to observe Tommy and the other living impaired students at her school including Tommy and Karen (the girl featured on the novel's cover and possibly this reviewer's favorite character). The more Phoebe sees of zombies like Tommy and Karen, the more they seem like any normal teenager, well mostly.

No one questions Phoebe's motivations for befriending Tommy until it begins to look like the two of them are more than friends. Margi, Phoebe's best friend and fellow Goth, can't understand what Phoebe could see in a dead boy. Every time her neighbor Adam sees Phoebe with Tommy, he can't help but wonder why she doesn't feel the same way about him when he's actually alive.

Eventually Margi and Adam come around, forming their own tentative bonds with the zombies in their midst. Meanwhile, other students at Oakvale remain hostile. Determined to make sure that the dead students invading their school stay dead for good this time, they set a vicious plan into motion that will irrevocably change everything for Phoebe and her friends--dead and alive.

Written in the third person, Waters alternates viewpoints throughout the novel. Each of the main characters mentioned here, specifically Phoebe and Adam, have sections of the novel related from their perspective. The novel even features narration from one of the students strongly opposed to the zombie presence in Oakvale. This technique, aside from demonstrating Waters' masterful writing skills, offers a fully informed perspective on the events of the novel with its variety of viewpoints.

Upon first glance, this book looks like a quirky but not necessarily serious book. A cover with a dead cheerleader wearing biker books can have that effect on readers. And yet, even though the story is about zombies, it isn't just another fun book. Filled with smart writing and an utterly original story, Generation Dead also adds to the ongoing conversation about tolerance and equality suggesting that people often have more in common than not. Even with zombies.

In its Brown v. Board of Education decision of 1954, the Supreme Court ruled that separate schools for black and white students were unconstitutional. The schools for whites were often superior to their counterparts for black students and consequently the separate schools offered very different educational opportunities. This ruling was key to the civil rights movement and efforts to end segregation.

On September 3, 1957, nine black students were barred from entry into Little Rock Central High School in Arkansas. By September 23, after another court decision ruled that Arkansas' governor could not keep them out, the Little Rock Nine were able to begin their school year in the white high school. President Eisenhower also sent the 101st Airborne Division to Little Rock to help protect the black students from harassment that ranged from insults to acid being thrown into one student's face.

Eight of the Little Rock Nine finished the school year at the Central High. In May of 1958 Ernest Green graduated from the school, the only minority in his graduating class of 602 students.
Fifty years later, Daniel Waters' debut novel Generation Dead offers a new take on integration and the fight for civil rights. In Oakvale, Connecticut parents and students alike are worried about the new students transferring to Oakvale High to benefit from the school's program of integration. Some of the new students are minorities, some of them are not. The reason all of the new students prove worrisome to some locals is more fundamental: The new students are dead.

All over the country, dead teenagers are waking up and rejoining the living--more or less. Called "living impaired" or "differently biotic" by a politically correct society, many of the undead kids prefer the term "zombie." No one knows why some teenagers come back and some don't. The only certainty is that everything changed the moment these zombies began trying to reconnect with the world of the living.

Unfortunately, some (living) people would prefer to have the zombies stay dead. Permanently. Everyone child knows that names can never hurt them, but for undead teens that don't heal sticks and stones suddenly seem much more dangerous, especially when the government has no laws to protect differently biotic citizens. After all, citizenship is supposed to expire when the citizen does, isn't it?

In Generation Dead integration doesn't start with a court decision detailing undead rights. Instead it starts with Tommy Williams trying out for the football team. Dead for about a year, no one expects Tommy to survive tryouts, let alone make the team. Except that he does.

Suddenly, the zombies don't seem quite so different. Phoebe Kendall, a traditionally biotic (albeit pale) student, realizes that better than anyone as she begins to observe Tommy and the other living impaired students at her school including Tommy and Karen (the girl featured on the novel's cover and possibly this reviewer's favorite character). The more Phoebe sees of zombies like Tommy and Karen, the more they seem like any normal teenager, well mostly.

No one questions Phoebe's motivations for befriending Tommy until it begins to look like the two of them are more than friends. Margi, Phoebe's best friend and fellow Goth, can't understand what Phoebe could see in a dead boy. Every time her neighbor Adam sees Phoebe with Tommy, he can't help but wonder why she doesn't feel the same way about him when he's actually alive.

Eventually Margi and Adam come around, forming their own tentative bonds with the zombies in their midst. Meanwhile, other students at Oakvale remain hostile. Determined to make sure that the dead students invading their school stay dead for good this time, they set a vicious plan into motion that will irrevocably change everything for Phoebe and her friends--dead and alive.

Written in the third person, Waters alternates viewpoints throughout the novel. Each of the main characters mentioned here, specifically Phoebe and Adam, have sections of the novel related from their perspective. The novel even features narration from one of the students strongly opposed to the zombie presence in Oakvale. This technique, aside from demonstrating Waters' masterful writing skills, offers a fully informed perspective on the events of the novel with its variety of viewpoints.

Upon first glance, this book looks like a quirky but not necessarily serious book. A cover with a dead cheerleader wearing biker books can have that effect on readers. And yet, even though the story is about zombies, it isn't just another fun book. Filled with smart writing and an utterly original story, Generation Dead also adds to the ongoing conversation about tolerance and equality suggesting that people often have more in common than not. Even with zombies.

Although a lot of people seemed to think this book was well written and went into depth about how life would almost BE like if living (sort of) zombie adolescents romed our streets, I just didn't get into it.

It seemed to me almost a bad imitation of Stephenie Meyer's "Twilight" which I am a big fan of. The impecable white skin, eyes a different colour and the obvious none beating heart were just some indications of how it was related not, on the other hand, including the forbidden love.

I still haven't finished my book, and I just feel like putting it down and reading "Twilight" again.

Although a lot of people seemed to think this book was well written and went into depth about how life would almost BE like if living (sort of) zombie adolescents romed our streets, I just didn't get into it.

It seemed to me almost a bad imitation of Stephenie Meyer's "Twilight" which I am a big fan of. The impecable white skin, eyes a different colour and the obvious none beating heart were just some indications of how it was related not, on the other hand, including the forbidden love.

I still haven't finished my book, and I just feel like putting it down and reading "Twilight" again.

I enjoyed this book quit a lot! its just something i wouldn't read vampire, werewolf yes zombies heck no! but Daniel waters takes you to a different perspective on zombies! Its great i hope theirs more to come. And if you want to read something different get this book!!! Oh and btw the characters are great!

Everyone else who's reviewed this so far has mentioned plenty of the good things about this book, and the other reviewers have also done a great job explaining what it's about. I agree with most of them that it was a fun read, but there were too many things about this book that bothered me for me to say I liked it. I give this book a middle-of-the-road rating, and I'll explain what my fundamental problems with the book are, though I should say for the record that such things will not ruin the book for everyone--just did for me. But first. . . .

I'm the first person to rate this book at less than a perfect five stars, so I realize I am just asking to get kicked in the face by fans who like to abuse ratings buttons. This review is CONSTRUCTIVE. Reviews are supposed to be honest and well-constructed, and this review contains my reasons for not liking the book very much. It's not hateful or full of bashing, so I respectfully ask readers to withhold THEIR hate and bashing and remember that your votes are supposed to be for "helpful" and "not helpful," not for whether you agree with my assessment. I venture to say I am writing helpful things here. Now, on with my comments.

My biggest problem with this book is that the concept is a neat idea but wasn't all that well carried out. It seemed almost like the author wanted to write about the social aspects of how dead people returning to life would affect society, but skipped the gritty details of what WOULD actually happen in between, moving right on to the fun part where dead kids are in your school. Consider this:

Less than three years had passed since the phenomenon began and yet there was already this push to fight for zombies' equality as citizens. Before scientists knew what made this happen. Before they could tell if zombies were in fact unstable, dangerous, diseased, whatever. The way this book is structured, it seemed like the author thought it really was feasible that the scientific community would collectively shrug and let these kids go about their afterlives.

I'm not saying I can't suspend disbelief about zombies in the first place, because that's the fun of it--it's just that since the book was written in a non-humorous, otherwise *realistic* fashion, it seems to be trying to frame how society really would react to dead people joining "our" ranks, and yet it misses some of the basic fibers of human nature.

For an example, let's look at America's embarrassing history when it came to equal rights for blacks. When black and white schools were getting integrated, so many white people were furious that their kids had to go to school with blacks that they withdrew their children, and the black kids had to be escorted to school and protected by policemen, frequently holding back crowds of whites who yelled and threw things. And this is how they acted when the kids were actually protected by the law! Zombies, in this book, have no rights. They would fare far worse. Even in this supposedly enlightened era. Dead coming back to life is a LOT more of a fundamental change than learning next to someone with a different skin color. There would be upheavals on scales that are nearly inconceivable. But here are these kids facing some prejudice and physical danger but going largely unmolested to school shortly after waking up dead.

And . . . how are they in school, exactly? They're not citizens. It's said they can't get driver's licenses or vote. But I suppose somehow they're able to be enrolled in school? No law can be requiring them to go (so one wonders why some of them are even there if they don't "have" to go), but even if they wanted to . . . would they really be allowed? I know visitors who aren't students sure had to jump through hoops to even be allowed inside the schools I worked at in college. Laws don't acknowledge these poor dead kids, so I find it hard to figure out why for no reason whatsoever some laws do seem to apply to them and some don't, depending on if it's convenient for the story's situation.

It's stuff like this that made the world "feel" wrong to me. I did like the slice of life the author chose to portray. Phoebe and Adam's relationship was VERY well-done--their adolescent confusion was believable, and most of the character interaction was convincing; I think character-building is this author's strong point. Another good example was that prejudice existed on both sides; there were some zombies who didn't trust the "traditionally biotic" and treated them badly, so it was refreshing to see zombies were not just a bunch of sad, maligned, defenseless creatures who never did any hating of their own. But I was pretty disappointed in the worldbuilding.

It would be obnoxious of me to demand that every question be answered, but it wasn't so much that the questions weren't answered that bothered me; what bothered me most is that there were several aspects of the story that made it seem impossible or improbable (even while suspending disbelief for kids coming back to life, of course), and no attempts were made to address these. Sorta like the author wanted to skip over some of the realistic ramifications of undead teens and skip right to the part where dead kids are an oppressed minority whose rights are only recognized by PC progressive types (three years after they started existing in the first place), complete with cheesy slogans on tee shirts.

Stuff I'm not sure the author thought of:

Zombies are repeatedly said not to breathe. How are they talking? I'm cool with it if there is a good explanation--like that they *can* breathe but don't need to to "live," or they're talking some different way. But nobody ever tells you.

Why would their eyes and skin lose pigment within a few minutes or hours of being dead? That doesn't happen to people who actually die. They don't suddenly become pale and lose their eye color. So why does it happen to zombies? I'm not saying it can't happen in the story, just that I would like some understanding of why besides "it just does, because that's what zombies look like."

Why do their hair and nails grow? They don't actually grow after death. That's a myth.

I guess my bottom line here is to say that I would see the events in Generation Dead happening more realistically in *micro* if some of the *macro* issues had been thought through a little better. They wouldn't have had to be focused on--just either addressed peripherally or insinuated to have been. The author pointed out several times that the scientists don't have any clue what allows zombies to "live" and why zombiism only occurs in American (or Canadian!) teens--but saying no one knows how it works doesn't do it for me. The ramifications of the laws of physics and biology being violated in an otherwise rational world is not examined at all. Scientists would freak. Society would freak. And not calm down for a very long time. If they don't find the answer, you've got to show what happens when they don't find the answer.

And if, somehow, the zombie phenomenon did NOT cause a widespread panic, and eventually things settled down to the point that they could begin to pursue their rights and enroll at your school, I think it would only be after there were a lot more answers. Look at how schools and society handled the concept of living with students who had AIDS when it was first showing up. The reaction was something like "OMG what are the rules, can I get it from touching him, what if he bleeds on me, isn't AIDS a GAY DISEASE, hey wait you want MY KID to go to school with THAT?" Now try multiplying the height of THAT by fifteen or so and you'll have the attitudes and reactions that'd be caused by walking, talking dead people. I don't demand that the zombie thing make scientific sense or anything; I just ask that the world depicted in a book is internally consistent, and I ultimately could not reconcile the concept with the reaction in this book.

Just one more note: The book had a higher than average language glitch score (which isn't good). Editors and fact-checkers, please put on your glasses for the next edition. I caught "peoples'" instead of "people's," a possessive used incorrectly with respect to someone's house, "Badger's" instead of "Badgers," "fifteen minute" instead of "fifteen minutes," and "sight" instead of "site," and the first time I saw the word "retina" used when the author meant "iris" it startled me. Then he did it again later, which means I guess he thinks the colored part of the eye is called the retina. Retinas are on the inside of eyeballs. Really weirded me out when I thought we were seeing a zombie's retina, until I realized it was just a mistake.

Most people who don't overthink everything and aren't as picky as I am will probably still enjoy this story, so read the other reviews and decide for yourself. Like I said, it's entertaining in micro and the characters are well-written while the concept is entertaining. I just think it could have been thought through a little better, and I have a sneaking suspicion that part of the reason an unrealistically short amount of time was allowed to go by was so we could still get these zombies into the schools when they weren't too much older than when they died. Since reality is skewed to make the premise work, I lost respect for it early on and that upset my ability to enjoy the book.

I picked up the book due to the cover alone, without previously knowing of its existence. Once started, I couldn't put it down, and it's not the sort of book I'd normally read. It provoked some interesting ideas and the ending was startlingly bittersweet. The blog that you can actually visit online is a great touch as well.
I look forward to more from this author.

The popularity of zombies is on the rise. In fact, the fans of the walking dead may be soon encroaching on the number one spot held by vampires. I don't know why this is happening, it's as mysterious as the reasons for the zombies climbing from their graves to start searching for a brain buffet in all the movies (and yeah, yeah, I get that some kind of gas was released in the Living Dead movies and in Raccoon City, but come on. Really?).

Zombies moved back into horror fiction with a much more sure step than they've had in a long time. But now they're launching into teen romance fiction. In a way. GENERATION DEAD by Daniel Waters is a mixed bag, and I'm going to be all over the place while describing my reading experience for you. It just refuses to lie down and die to be reborn into a familiar zombie novel of movie tradition.

The cover of the dead cheerleader with blackened eyes seized me at once. I mean, once you get that image in your head, it's not going to easily go away. Neither will the romantic triangle between Phoebe, Adam, and Tommy, the "differently biotic" boy Phoebe falls for.

Phoebe was one of the Goth girls at school. She enjoyed being different, and the dressed-in-black thing really worked for her. Looking like the living dead really worked for her. It even earned her the name Scarypants from Pete, the novel's villain of sorts. Of course, the look really lost its appeal when dead kids started showing up and coming back to school. The author does an excellent job of catching a teen girl's feelings and confusion throughout the novel. Phoebe comes to life on the pages almost at once.

Adam is the football jock and Phoebe's next door friend. As it happens, he's just discovering that the friendship he's always had with Phoebe runs much deeper. That realization is stymied by his own shyness, the fact that he is a member of the Pain Crew on the football team and he shouldn't go for Goth girls, and Phoebe's sudden crush on Tommy Williams.

Tommy is a pioneering wonder among the zombies. He's articulate and he writes, blogs even. He also goes out for the football team and causes all kinds of tension in the school and the city.

The story revolves around these three characters and how they sort out their lives. However, the author throws in great support characters like Margi, Phoebe's best friend, and others.

Teens these days seem to be almost shockproof to so many changes in their lives. If the living dead did claw their way from their graves and decide to go to school instead of the brain buffet, I would be very surprised if teens didn't act exactly as Waters portrays them in this novel. They split almost immediately into groups that supported the zombies and those that stood against. But mostly they were curious.

I could make a lot of comparisons to cultural differences being played out in the pages, of Waters building his zombies up to comment on race, religion, and economics - the usual dividers among populations, but I won't. I don't think he wants the book to go that deeply into global problems. I believe he just wants to talk about the teen world, get into their heads, and tell a story they'll have a ball with wondering "what-if"?

I also have to admit that you're going to have to push yourself to get through the first fifty pages or so. The book progresses slowly but that's so the characters and all their complications can be set into place. Once that's done, Waters engages fully with the story and keeps things moving.

This is a book for the teens. Some parents of teens or those who want a trip back through the teenage years will enjoy it as well, but the junior high and high school readers should eat this one up. There's no real explanation for why the zombies came back to life, or why only American teens were affected, and I was disappointed slightly in that. But the characters are real, facing situations with genuine emotion, and I believe that the target audience is going to feel that and enjoy the read.

Get ready for the next sensation: waking up after you've died.

It started with one strange case, and now it's happening to more and more American teens. But having a second chance doesn't make living, or whatever their existence is called, any easier for these "living impaired" or "differently biotic" teens. They face much discrimination, fear, and hatred, and they don't have any legal rights either. That means anyone who hates them enough can destroy them - and the differently biotic won't be able to come back after their second death.

Most people are terrified of the differently biotic, but Phoebe is actually attracted to their leader, Tommy Williams. This makes Phoebe's best friend Margi uncomfortable because of what happened to their other friend Colette. Phoebe's other good friend Adam is just realizing his deeper feelings for Phoebe, and he doesn't quite know how to deal with the fact that Phoebe likes Tommy. Add in Pete, a football player who hates the differently biotic with a passion, and you have the incredible novel Generation Dead.

Daniel Waters proves himself to be an exceptionally talented writer with this debut. This story is fast-paced and incredibly unique, and I was impressed with how Waters took on the philosophical topic of death (or undeath, in this case). I liked how each character's past influenced the decisions they made and the mysteriousness that surrounded others. I can honestly say Generation Dead was one of the best-written and most unique stories I have ever read.

Generation Dead was an incredibly amazing novel, and it has the potential to be made into a series, which I hope happens. I most definitely recommend this novel to anyone and everyone, especially fans of the Twilight series and other vampire novels. I suggest everyone run to the nearest bookstore on May 6 before Generation Dead gets sold out.

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