Zombie and Brain Are Friends

Zeb, a green-skinned zombie kid, comes from a farming family renowned for cultivating the county’s finest “grain-fed, free-range” brains—pink, cloud-like, and clearly sentient delicacies that they pickle, bake, fry, and sell at the farmers’ market. But after a newborn baby brain unexpectedly leaps into Zeb’s arms, he feels “a funny little flutter in his heart” for the adorable orb, which he names Brian. The young zombie’s parents insist that “brains are food, NOT pets,” but Zeb remains unwavering in his affection, moaning endlessly until his parents give in. When Zeb suspects that Dad plans to eat Brian for a midnight snack, he whisks his friend to a big green field to join the wild brains. Lucianovic peppers her variation on the “Can I keep it?” genre with sly humor—Zeb attempts to lure Brian back home by crinkling “the Zombie Times’s toughest crosswords”—while Cham’s depictions of offbeat locavore culture are sweetly ghoulish. Ages 4–8. (Sept.)