Zombie Tag

Zombie Tag

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4.18 of 5 stars 4.18  ·  rating details  ·  163 ratings  ·  65 reviews
Wil is desperate for his older brother to come back from the dead. But the thing about zombies is . . they don't exactly make the best siblings.

Thirteen-year-old Wil Lowenstein copes with his brother's death by focusing on Zombie Tag, a mafia/capture the flag hybrid game where he and his friends fight off brain-eating zombies with their mothers' spatulas. What Wil doesn't...more
Hardcover, 1st Edtion, 240 pages
Published December 20th 2011 by Roaring Brook Press
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Wildefire by Karsten KnightWitch Eyes by Scott TraceyA Touch Morbid by Leah CliffordInvincible Summer by Hannah MoskowitzPossess by Gretchen McNeil
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10th out of 15 books — 2 voters
Out of My Mind by Sharon M. DraperSmile by Raina TelgemeierLove, Aubrey by Suzanne LaFleurTurtle in Paradise by Jennifer L. HolmInside Out & Back Again by Thanhha Lai
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Lucy
I feel strange reviewing this because part of I really enjoyed about this book was how it exceeded my expectations. I was expecting a middle school book that would feel a little too young to me, like a children's version of Shaun of the Dead, and I got something so much better.

I have meaning to read a Hannah Moskowitz book for awhile, but you know how it is, piles of books everywhere and you swear you won't buy any new ones until you finish half of them. Anyway, I was in for a lot of mindless f...more
Hannah
Feb 03, 2011 Hannah added it  ·  (Review from the author)
I wrote this book. It isn't a true story.
Janelle
It's 2:45am, and I just finished this book. Yes. I am still crying. Beautiful story, beautiful characters... I absolutely LOVED it!! I will post a more in-depth review soon, but I need to just sit in the wonderfulness of this story right now.
Margaret
I really enjoyed this book. Yes, it's a children's book, but that just serves to ensure that it's not overly gruesome like so many YA books are these days.
The characters were engaging, though I have to admit that I agree with Wil & his opinion of Eben.
The "love?" relationship was adorable.
I appreciate the good use of a kitchen utensil. (Patricia C. Wrede's frying pan of doom, anyone?)


My only mild dislike was what I see as a dangling plot point, but I don't know how to begin to describe it wi...more
Lydia Sharp
Nominating myself for president of the official Eben fan club.

I can't even wrap my head around how much I *heart* this story.

EDIT: HERE IS MY FULL REVIEW BELOW, AS IT APPEARED ON MY BLOG.

In Hannah's MG debut, we get a good dose of the Hannah-isms we've come to love in her YA novels. Her prose is concise, yet emotionally deep. I have to admit, I envy her ability to consistently write "lean and mean." It makes the story move along quickly while keeping a firm grip on your heart.

Especially since th...more
Step Into Fiction
I’m a huge fan of Hannah Moskowitz, so when she announce awhile back that she was having her first Middle Grade book released, I knew I had to read this even though I’ve never ever bothered reading MG before now.

Review originally posted at Step Into Fiction

Review completed by: Jessica
T.L. Bodine
I was fortunate enough to have a quiet day at work today, which is good as I was hesitant to put the book down. I have a special fondness for MG books, and this one definitely lived up to my expectations.

I've never read any Hannah Moskowitz before, but I'd been curious about her writing for a long time. Her themes, and especially her tone, seemed reminiscent to me of my favorite authors from the 80s: Robert Cormier and Richard Peck.

I wasn't that far off. ZOMBIE TAG wasn't as heart-wrenchingly d...more
Tredyffrin Kids
This is the most amazing book I've read all year. Granted, it is only the beginning of February, but still. Uh-Mazing.

The plot, in super-brief: 12-year-old zombie-obsessed Wil finds a way to bring his older brother Graham back from the dead. But will Graham be the same awesome big brother Wil remembers, or will he instead eat Wil's brains? Perhaps more importantly, has Wil just triggered the zombie apocalypse?

This book has everything (suspense, fun, heartbreak) and it goes way beyond its action...more
Amy
I cannot wait to read this book with my 9 year old son! Sounds like something we'll both enjoy immensely.


UPDATE: We started this yesterday. We finished this yesterday. It was a quick read but still contained a deep, evolving story. The book was funny (we laughed out loud at some parts), clever, and heartbreaking. I will definitely be adding other Moskowitz books to my to-read shelf.

Also, on a personal note-this was my very first Goodreads Giveaway book! Very exciting for us both!
Karen  Yingling
There's nothing Wil likes more than a rousing game of Zombie Tag with his friends. They run around with spatulas, pretending to bite each other and to hunger after brains. Everyone's parents are uncomfortable with this, given the Unfortunate Incident with zombies thirty odd years ago, but Wil's parents are expecially concerned because the entire family is still reeling from the death of Wil's older brother, Graham, from an asthma attack. When Wil finds out that one of his friend's fathers has a...more
Charlyn  Trussell
So I broke the rule. I judged the book by the cover and was totally off-track. See--there's a boy with a spatula and the boy's smiling even though he's holding on to a zombie. I expected a funny book or a pseudo-scary book. So, so wrong.

Wil had a very good relationship with his older brother Graham. Graham's death from an asthma attack sucks the joy from the family. Wil has wonderful memories of his brother and he wants his brother back so everything will be just like it used to be.

But when Wil...more
Aimeekay

I really liked this book. It is told from the perspective of Wil, a twelve year old little boy, who's older brother has recently passed away. His family has stalled since his brother's passing. They have moved to a new home, but his brother's presence is still there. Wil feels as if he can't connect with his father anymore, and his mother just seems lost in her grief. Going so far as to want to place four settings for dinner instead of the three that are now required. Wil becomes convinced that...more
Karla Nellenbach
I have to say that lately, I've fallen in love with MG, and with ZOMBIE TAG, I've fallen hard. This book has everything you want in a good story. There's the lovable, slightly damaged main character, the family ravaged by tragedy, the friends who want to help, those who the MC betrayed.

And, of course, there are zombies.

Wil is the kind of main character you want to get behind. He idolized his brother, and hasn't quite been the same since Graham's untimely death. He'd give anything to bring him...more
Becky
Wil's big brother Graham died 6 months ago, and all he wants is for things in his house to go back to normal. He knows there's a bell that raises people from the dead, which happened 30 years ago and about which there is little information, except that weeks later all the "zombies" were found huddled together, dead. When he discovers that the bell is hidden in his friend Anthony's house, he knows he has to get it, to bring back Graham. And Graham does come back--but he's not the same. He doesn't...more
Kevin Craig
This review taken from my review blog: http://www.trythisbookonforsize.blogs...

“Graham and I spit on our hands and promised we would never, ever grow up. He’s not going to get out of that just by dying.” ~ Hannah Moskowitz, Zombie Tag

“Talking to you is like talking to myself.” ~ Hannah Moskowitz, Zombie Tag (This is a truism for ALL brothers in the throes of their child years together. It’s a shame we forget it when we grow up.)

ZOMBIE TAG has very little to do with zombies. Don’t tell Hannah Mo...more
Samantha
Tweleve year old Wil knows all about zombies, even though he isn't supposed to. At least he knows all there is on the Internet. He and his brother Graham also invented this really cool game called Zombie Tag that he and his friends love to play. All you need is a really dark house or yard, some sticky notes, a flashlight, the "key", and some kitchen spatulas. Yes, spatulas. When big brother Graham dies because he can't find his asthma inhaler in time, suddenly Wil becomes even more fascinated wi...more
Regina
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
Amy Fournier
When I saw this book I thought it sounded like a fun quick book to read, and I was partially right. Parts of it were fun, and it was definitely quick, but it was deeper than I thought a MG book like this would be. Not that it's a bad thing, I was caught off guard by the emotional aspect of a book meant for kids of the age range intended. I thought that the idea behind it was cute and creative. The story goes quick and the characters are well written. The story is very thoughtful, and touching. T...more
Charlou Lunsford
Wil, 12, invents a game using spatulas, Post-its, and a "key." He calls it Zombie Tag and his friends think it's a game. Wil uses it as a way to find the magic he needs to bring his brother back from the dead. What happens when the zombies come is different from the moves and not exactly what Wil hoped for either.
Now for the tricky part. i liked it. It wasn't what I expected. The cover seemed to say something different than what was inside. I so wanted a fun book I could recommend to boy this s...more
Sarah
I like zombies. I like Hannah's books. You can draw your own conclusions from there! No, this book is not a thrilling action adventure. It is a very thoughtful story of family and love and death and being left behind: kiddy philosophy as dispensed by lovable and well-drawn characters.
Tiffany Neal
May 21, 2011 Tiffany Neal marked it as to-read
Really going to need this for my classroom library. I have a feeling it will either become a read aloud for me, or one that won't stay on the shelf ever!
Summer Fenwick
I don't know what I was expecting when I picked up this book... but I certainly wasn't expecting that.

HO.LY. COW. I didn't think a zombie book could give me so many feels. I was almost in tears.

There's a lot of death, loss, and dying in this book. Physically and spiritually. It is beautifully written, but I feel like there needs to be a big disclaimer on it- especially when the librarians here decided to put it alongside Hank the Cowdog and Junie B. Jones... I think, while the protagonist is 12...more
Jack Gerstung

If you had a brother that died would you bring him back? That is what happened in zombie tag. Zombie Tag is a story about Will who lost his brother to an asthma attack. Will tries to bring his brother back by reading and looking up zombies on the internet. One night at his friend Anthony’s house he finds a special bell that can wake up the dead within a five mile radius. Will rings the bell and as soon as he gets home he sees his brother Graham alive and sitting with his parents. Will is very ha...more
Jean
This is definitely not what I thought it would be. Judging this book by the cover, I thought it would be a funny, snarky Zombie novel. But, it is actually really heartbreaking. It is about a young boy, Wil, who loses his brother to a deadly asthma attack. Wil wants his brother back and will do whatever he can to achieve his goal. So, he rings a bell which awakens the dead within a five mile radius. His brother returns home but he is not the brain-eating type Zombie, his is the definition of zomb...more
Paul  Hankins
A very nice read about loss and dealing with loss. And zombies. An interesting approach here. I kept forgetting where there was a zombie-element and the reveal at the end was a little anti-climactic for me as I was really reading into the relationship between Wil and Graham. So, this is not a criticism but a celebration of the approach. If you want to read about zombies coming back to life, you're in. . .and if you want to read about love and loss and putting it all back together. . .you're in....more
Laura
Zombie Tag is a cute but bittersweet middle grade novel by Hannah Moskowitz. Will's older brother Graham died approximately 6 months before from an acute asthma attack. Wil and his parents haven't been doing very well since. Wil invented a game called zombie tag in an effort to learn how to battle zombies.

I loved this book. It's setting is contemporary but the world is just a little different. Zombies are a real possibility. Wil is desperate to get his family back. When he learns of a way to mak...more
Kim
From December 2011 SLJ:
Gr 5-8–Ever since his older brother’s death earlier this year, 12-year-old Wil’s coping strategy has been to escape with his friends into Zombie Tag, a game in which the “zombie” tries to capture the other players and eat their brains before they can find the hidden object and escape with it. Of course, he knows (or thinks he knows) that zombies don’t really eat people’s brains: he has scoured the Internet to piece together information on the zombie awakening of 30 years a...more
Sage Collins
What can I say about this book, except how brilliant it is? Obviously, I already knew I would love it, since I beta-read an old version of it. I can see some of the differences (like a whole new character!), but one thing that didn't change was how well it was written and how poignant it is.

At its heart, Zombie Tag is not a book about zombies. Yes, there are zombies. Yes, there is a game called Zombie Tag. There are absolutely spatulas all over this book. But the book isn't about those things. T...more
Rachael
10 Things I Love About Zombie Tag:

1) The cover fits perfectly.
2) It comes with its own game. (And the game is AWESOME. I mean, hi, you can buy your kid, ahem, or yourself, not just a book but untold hours of zombie tagging enjoyment.)
3) The humor. (Example: "It's five miles. Anthony should really get his stories peer-reviewed or something." )
4) The voice. It is pitch perfect middle grade boy. <3 Wil.
5) The twist. It completely blindsided me, but also made total sense looking back.
6) The frien...more
Reut (reutreads)
I will read anything Hannah Moskowitz writes. I'm serious. Her books are awesome. Therefore I will read them.

I read her debut, Break, (my review here) and I liked it a lot. I read Invincible Summer, her second book (my mini-review here), and I loved it. So when Hannah announced an ARC tour for what will be her first middle-grade and her third book overall--yeah, I signed up. (And we were allowed to write all over the book!)

I enjoyed Zombie Tag. I loved the idea and while I was reading the first...more
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Zombie Tag (ebook)
Zombie Tag (Kindle Edition)
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Hannah Moskowitz wrote her first story, about a kitten named Lilly on the run from cat hunters, for a contest when she was seven years old. She was disqualified for violence. Her first book, BREAK, was on the ALA's 2010 list of Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults. She is a student at The University of Maryland.

I rate emotionally more than intellectually. 5 stars means I loved it, not that it was...more
More about Hannah Moskowitz...
Invincible Summer Break Gone, Gone, Gone Teeth Marco Impossible

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“Even though Graham and I went back to arguing and stealing socks and hiding each other's toothbrushes in the litter box, I didn't forget that Graham didn't think I needed a best friend, because either it meant he thought I was cool enough to handle everything alone or—and this was what I hoped—it meant that he was my best friend, quietly, forever, no matter what.
I mean, after all, whose skates had I been wearing?”
7 people liked it
“So once the zookeeper realized it was the monkeys who stole the bananas, he knew there was only one way he'd be able to get them back."
"How?" I whispered. My throat was so sore.
"Don't talk. He had to beat them in shuffleboard, of course."
"What?"
"I said don't talk. Monkeys love shuffleboard."
He used a page from a homework assignment he'd failed and a stack of quarters to make a shuffleboard court. I watched the monkeys and the zookeepers have their showdown while I sipped the last of my applejuice.
"Need more?" Graham asked me without looking up, when my straw skidded against the dry bottom of the box.
"Uh uh."
"You're supposed to drink juice."
"I just drank some."
"More, though."
I shook my head.
"Drink more juice or the monkeys are going to kill you. The only thing they love more than shuffleboard is beating up dehydrated sick boys.”
1 person liked it
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