ZOMBELINA SCHOOL DAYS

A student who is a zombie has more difficulty than most keeping it together at school, but her relationship skills are never in any doubt.

Math, grammar, spelling, and reading precede the much-anticipated show-and-tell (Zombelina’s “hip-hop’s to DIE for!”), and by then, readers will see where the tale might be going, as Zombelina loses the hand she raises to answer a question, and she puts her nose in her book. Literally. Sure enough, Zombelina and her dance both fall apart. But though the green-skinned girl is upset, it doesn’t keep her from building the nervous ghost Morty up for his turn on his first day in a new school. After all, what could be worse than Zombelina’s performance? After that, she, Morty, and her friend Lizzie (a living white girl) are fast friends. The tale ends with a dance party at Zombelina’s house after her classmates request dance lessons. Crow’s verses have the hip-hop rhythm of rap, though some will take some practice to read aloud smoothly. Idle’s Prismacolor-pencil illustrations portray Zombelina as a blonde with a style all her own. Zigzags and hash marks make it look as though her body parts are stitched together. Aside from the phantasmagoric, blue Morty, the rest of the class has a normal range of diverse skin tones.

This zombie may not be able to keep her body together, but she can sure keep her head in delicate situations and be a good friend.