Generation Dead

Aug 24, 2009 Emma rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

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 Sc...more 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.(less)

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Aug 24, 2009 Joe rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: people who like to be bored to death (HA!)

Shelves: young-adult, borrowed-library

Oh, my. How can I put this lightly?

Generation Dead is Twilight, but with zombies instead of vampires. And it's just as terrible.

To wit:

Meet Phoebe. She's a goth girl! (How 1999!) Phoebe listens to so many cool bands, like This Mortal Coil and Bronx Casket Company. We know this because author Daniel Waters assures us every fifteen pages that he is an expert on his goth rock. Phoebe also writes poetry! It's really, really terrible poetry, too!

Meet Adam. Phoebe lives next door to him. He's a footb...more

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Aug 24, 2009 Kristi (The Story Siren) rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

You’ve heard of Generation "X" and Generation "Y." Get ready for Generation Dead. Generation Dead being known for its, well, undead. Science can’t explain it, and no one really knows why it happens, but American teenagers are coming back to life. Known to the living as differently biotic or the living impaired. These zombie teenagers try to "live" their undead lives, but as with any group of people that vary from the norm, there are always prejudices.

Phoebe, a Goth. girl, finds herself unexpecte...more You’ve heard of Generation "X" and Generation "Y." Get ready for Generation Dead. Generation Dead being known for its, well, undead. Science can’t explain it, and no one really knows why it happens, but American teenagers are coming back to life. Known to the living as differently biotic or the living impaired. These zombie teenagers try to "live" their undead lives, but as with any group of people that vary from the norm, there are always prejudices.

Phoebe, a Goth. girl, finds herself unexpectedly drawn to one of these so-called living impaired students, Tommy Williams. Her best friend Margi, thinks she is crazy, but Margi’s feeling for the undead are more complicated than a general dislike. Then there is Phoebe’s neighbor and childhood friend, Adam. Adam has finally realized his feeling for Phoebe, but he still can’t find the courage to tell her. Of course it doesn’t make the situation any easier when he discovers Phoebe is crushing on the dead kid.

Phoebe talks Margi and Adam into joining a work study at the Hunter Foundation, which is centered around the undead phenomenon. Unfortunately not everyone tries to be as open minded. There aren’t any laws protecting the living impaired and they are being singled out and sometimes killed again. When a student makes a personal vendetta to take out the living impaired and anyone associated with them, the situation can only end in tragedy.

Generation Dead went above and beyond what I was expecting. Sure it is about the dead, but there are so many underlying messages in this book. Prejudice is something that is very apparent, and is something that we deal within reality on a daily basis. There is a part in the book in chapter 16, where they have a guest speaker so to sort in their undead studies program, basically they are discussing how they can acclimate the undead into society. I have to say that the dialogue of the speaker, totally blew me away. I think I read it maybe three of four times and I just kept thinking, if only, if only acceptance and change were and could be that easy, the world would be a better place. But anyway, as for the rest of the story, characters were beyond three dimensional, I felt like I knew these kids, and they continued to develop throughout the entire story, I mean literally up until the last page, I loved it! The plot was totally original and kept me turning the pages until the late hours of the night. I love Waters writing style, it’s engrossing yet simple, can that even be possible! The story was full of wit and humor, and I was totally captured! Obviously I really liked/love this book. It comes out on May 6th and I strongly suggest you pick up a copy. There is just something about it, it’s different and fresh!
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Jul 11, 2012 Megan rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I had a difficulty of deciding weither to give this two stars or three stars. But I decided to give it three stars for three reasons.

Reason One: The cover is amazing. That just deserves it's own star.
Reason Two: Although the story had a really boring plot, I did like the ending. Because it left me with questions. Half of me sort of wants to read the 2nd book just to find out what happens with Phoebe & Adam but the other half says no. Because if this book was crappy the next one will most l...more

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Mar 14, 2010 Thomas rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Phoebe Kendall is your typical goth girl - she wears dark clothes, applies pale makeup, and paints her nails black. What sets her apart from the crowd is that she is in love with a dead boy, named Tommy Williams. All around the nation dead teenagers have been rising from their graves and practically rebooting their souls. They are also called zombies, living impaired, differently biotic, etc. Although most of them have to wait a few minutes before forming a sentence, a special few can function a...more

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Aug 24, 2009 A Filthy Youth groupie rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Anyone!

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Aug 24, 2009 Rachael rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

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 a...more

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Aug 24, 2009 amber rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: ya, paranorm-fantasy-scifi

2.5 - I really wanted to like this book. YA, zombies, cool cover - how could I not love it? I expected a funny story judging by all of the reviews and I think that is where the let down happened. This book is quite serious. It's really about intolerance and how people hate. There is startling zombie violence throughout the book. There are funny parts but overall this is not a lighthearted read. This is not a bad book but it wasn't what I was expecting. After the abrupt ending, I'm left feeling s...more

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Sep 20, 2009 Susan rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: coming-of-age, dark-fantasy, family-relationships, fiction, friendship, high-school, library-books, paranormal, read-in-2009, reading-challenges, young-adult, young-women, zombies

The concept behind Generation Dead is incredibly clever and executed well by Daniel Waters. I was expecting a book about teenage zombies - what I didn't expect was a well-written and complex young adult novel dealing with the universal themes of discrimination and acceptance. Daniel Waters blew me away with this fantastic debut!

The compelling characters ~~leapt~~ shuffled off the page and into my heart. Waters never stopped developing each of his characters - they constantly evolved throughout the s...more

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Aug 31, 2012 Sarah Marie rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: ar-books, favorites, i-love-drama, paranormal, pretty-covers, romance, some-people-die, tear-jerkers, sexy-guy, zombies, young-adult, lol-i-love-books-that-make-me-laugh, best-villains, lala-love-triangle, gave-it-away, male-pov

Generation Dead by Daniel Waters

First in the Generation Dead series

4.5 stars

Phoebe Kendall is your typical high school Goth girl. She wears the clothes, the makeup, listens to “Goth” music, and loves black. She and her BFF, Margi, have a common bond when it comes to all things black and combat boots. Her best guy friend is Adam (who is finally realizing that he is in love with her and of course Phoebe is completely oblivious to this). Now she has mixed feelings toward a guy… but he’s not just an

...more

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Jun 22, 2011 Angela rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: ya-children-s, dystopian-utopian-apocalyptic, read-2011, zombies

This isn't a bad read. It's certainly not spectacular either though. I've read reviews where they have compared this novel with 'Twilight' but with zombies instead of vampires; it's not, it's better written than that, and nowhere near as annoying or cringe-worthy.

The concept of the novel was good - I'm a big zombie fan and this is the first time I've read anything where the undead do not go shuffling around eating brains, but instead, try to incorporate themselves into living society as much as...more

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Aug 24, 2009 Steph Su rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

They don't like to be called zombies. Or dead heads, or worm food, or whatever pejorative terms the "creative" people of the world are coming up with. They're differently biotic: American teens literally rising from the dead into some semblance of their former selves. Everyone is terrified of them. What are they, and why have they come back from the dead?

High school junior Phoebe doesn't share the world's qualms. In fact, she just might have a crush on Tommy Williams, a quietly powerful differen...more

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Aug 24, 2009 Abby rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Abby by: the New York Times Book Review

Shelves: teen

More like 2.5 stars, I think. I expected a bit more from this zombie teen novel -- like, for instance, brain-eating. Moaning. Slowly losing limbs. Things that zombies normally do. The teen zombies in this book aren't like that -- in fact, if you don't want to risk offense, you probably shouldn't call them zombies. The politically correct term is "living impaired." Or "differently biotic."

All over the United States, dead teens are coming back from the grave, returning to the homes & schools...more

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Aug 24, 2009 Kelly Moran rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: my-reviews

To summarize Generation Dead, by Daniel Waters in one word- Clever! Daniel Waters resides in Connecticut with his family. Generation Dead is his first young adult novel.
All over the country an unusual phenomenon is happening. Some teenagers who die are not staying dead. Isolated strictly to the United States and to teenagers, these young adults are labeled differently bionic or living impaired. All they are trying to do is fit into a society that doesn’t want them and doesn’t understand. The kid...more To summarize Generation Dead, by Daniel Waters in one word- Clever! Daniel Waters resides in Connecticut with his family. Generation Dead is his first young adult novel.
All over the country an unusual phenomenon is happening. Some teenagers who die are not staying dead. Isolated strictly to the United States and to teenagers, these young adults are labeled differently bionic or living impaired. All they are trying to do is fit into a society that doesn’t want them and doesn’t understand. The kids at Oakvale High School are no different. They don’t want to eat with them, talk to them, or sit in class with them. They just want them to disappear. Phoebe has never been part of the popular crowd, not with her goth looks and attitude. So when she falls for Tommy, leader of the dead kids, no one can quite believe it. Margi, her best friend, has a fear of the living impaired which is rooted to an incident from their past she’d rather ignore than face. And Adam, her next door neighbor and star of the football team, has recently realized his feelings for Phoebe go much deeper than the girl next door he always thought she was. But what if all Adam can do is protect Tommy to make her happy?
I only have two criticisms for the book. One, there were a few errors, but I had the advanced reading copy which is not the final publication draft. And two, I was sad when it ended, as I wanted more.
Generation Dead, by Daniel Waters is clever, witty, and downright genius. How on earth he came up with this idea I’ll never know. But I am so very glad he did. He was able to get into the minds of teenagers and know what they are thinking, feeling, and their reactions to the world around them. Targeted for young adults ages twelve and up, I think parents and adults would benefit from this read, as they just might finally get into their teenagers psyche. From the star of the football team, to the cheerleader who seemingly has it all, to the lost soul who hides in the corner… every character is believable and convincing. The plot flowed well and was exceedingly difficult to put down. In my opinion, the greatest part of this story was the way Daniel Waters was able to throw out any and every notion we have about zombies. You won’t find flesh eating monsters and gore beyond nightmares, but rather a brilliantly funny adaptation of what a world might be like should this phenomenon every occur. Impressive, very impressive!

Kelly Moran,
Author and Reviewer
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May 14, 2008 Jennifer Wardrip rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: trt-posted-reviews

Reviewed by The Story Siren for TeensReadToo.com

You've heard of Generation "X" and Generation "Y." Get ready for Generation Dead -- Generation Dead being known for its, well, undead. Science can't explain it, and no one really knows why it happens, but American teenagers are coming back to life. Known to the living as differently biotic or the living impaired, these zombie teenagers try to "live" their undead lives, but as with any group of people that vary from the norm, there are always prejud...more Reviewed by The Story Siren for TeensReadToo.com

You've heard of Generation "X" and Generation "Y." Get ready for Generation Dead -- Generation Dead being known for its, well, undead. Science can't explain it, and no one really knows why it happens, but American teenagers are coming back to life. Known to the living as differently biotic or the living impaired, these zombie teenagers try to "live" their undead lives, but as with any group of people that vary from the norm, there are always prejudices.

Phoebe, a Goth girl, finds herself unexpectedly drawn to one of these so-called living impaired students, Tommy Williams. Her best friend, Margi, thinks she is crazy, but Margi's feeling for the undead are more complicated than a general dislike. Then there is Phoebe's neighbor and childhood friend, Adam. Adam has finally realized his true feelings for Phoebe, but he still can't find the courage to tell her. Of course, it doesn't make the situation any easier when he discovers Phoebe is crushing on the dead kid.

Phoebe talks Margi and Adam into joining a work study at the Hunter Foundation, which is centered around the undead phenomenon. Unfortunately, not everyone tries to be as open-minded. There aren't any laws protecting these teens, and they are being singled out and sometimes killed again. When a student makes a personal vendetta to take out the living impaired and anyone associated with them, the situation can only end in tragedy.

GENERATION DEAD went above and beyond what I was expecting. Sure, it is about the dead, but there are so many underlying messages in this book. Prejudice is something that is very apparent, and is something that we deal with in reality on a daily basis. There is a part in the book where they have a guest speaker in their undead studies program. Basically, they are discussing how they can acclimate the undead into society. I have to say that the dialogue of the speaker totally blew me away. I think I read it maybe three or four times, and I just kept thinking, if only acceptance and change were and could be that easy, the world would be a better place.

As for the rest of the story, the characters were beyond three-dimensional. I felt like I knew these kids, and they continued to develop throughout the entire story, I mean literally up until the last page. I loved it! The plot was totally original and kept me turning pages until the late hours of the night. I love Mr. Waters' writing style, as it's engrossing yet simple. The story was full of wit and humor, and I was totally captured!

Obviously, I really liked/loved this book! (less)

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Aug 24, 2009 Tasha rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A strange phenomenon is happening across the entire country. Some teenagers are coming back from the dead. While some may think this is great, a second chance at life, others aren’t all that happy about it. Most of these “differently biotic” move extremely slowly and talk just as slow. They are all trying to fit back in with the world they once knew, but with a society filled with people who don’t want to accept them, it can be painstakingly hard.
Phoebe, a Goth girl, has never really fit in. S...more A strange phenomenon is happening across the entire country. Some teenagers are coming back from the dead. While some may think this is great, a second chance at life, others aren’t all that happy about it. Most of these “differently biotic” move extremely slowly and talk just as slow. They are all trying to fit back in with the world they once knew, but with a society filled with people who don’t want to accept them, it can be painstakingly hard.
Phoebe, a Goth girl, has never really fit in. She has a grand total of two friends but that’s all she needs. When Phoebe finds herself drawn to Tommy Williams, a differently biotic boy, no one can believe it, especially her friends. Her best friend Margie thinks she’s crazy, but Margie’s feelings for differently biotic people are way deeper than the stereotypical feelings most people have, they are much more complicated. And then there’s Adam - Phoebe’s childhood best friend and next-door neighbor, who doesn’t want Phoebe getting hurt and he may just have “more than friends” feelings for her.
When the opportunity for a work study with the Hunter Group presents itself to the students at Oakvale High that involves the differently biotic kids Phoebe is one of the first to raise her hand. She is able to convince both Margie and Adam to join her along with Tommy and a few other differently biotic kids to join the work study group. Here they will try and shed some light on the mystery of the differently biotic kids that still marvels scientists and also build unlikely friendships. These work study members better watch their back though as there is one kid who has such a passionate hate for differently biotic kids that he won’t stop at anything to get rid of them. With no laws protecting the differently biotic this can only end it tragedy, but will the other students at Oakvale High let it happen?

I have to say that at first I was a little hesitant about reading this book. I haven’t ever read a book that has to do with zombies or vampires or anything like that. This was a GREAT introduction into these kinds of books. It was a gripping, poignant, and extremely well written story. While the main premise is zombies and how they aren’t treated fairly in society, there are a lot of underlying messages especially about prejudice. I loved how the author was able to talk about such a controversial subject in such a creative way. The characters in this book were absolutely breathtaking, alive and dead alike. The author did such an excellent job making them into three-dimensional people that I felt were sitting beside me and telling me one heck of a bedtime story. This was just an all out great book that has become a new favorite of mine. The ending certainly lined up for a sequel, and hopefully the author will continue this fantastic story.
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Aug 24, 2009 Karin rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: youngadult, favorites, zombies

Generation Dead is Daniel Water’s first novel and he did a bang up job! He captured the voices of teenagers who are navigating their way through the trials and tribulations of high school. The only difference between a regular high school and the high school in this book is that for some reason, and no one knows why - not even the scientists, SOME teenagers that die aren’t staying dead. They are referred to as “living impaired” or “differently biotic.”

Phoebe, a goth to the bone girl, is the mai...more Generation Dead is Daniel Water’s first novel and he did a bang up job! He captured the voices of teenagers who are navigating their way through the trials and tribulations of high school. The only difference between a regular high school and the high school in this book is that for some reason, and no one knows why - not even the scientists, SOME teenagers that die aren’t staying dead. They are referred to as “living impaired” or “differently biotic.”

Phoebe, a goth to the bone girl, is the main character of this interesting story. Adam is her best friend, football star, next door neighbor. Margi is her best friend. Together they experience life with the “differently biotic” - each are affected a different way.

Phoebe becomes fascinated and starts to fall for Tommy, the leader of the “differently biotic” kids. Since all of the zombies, as they like to call themselves, don’t come back the same - meaning some move and communicate better than others - Tommy makes sure some of the lower functioning ones aren’t left alone walking through the halls or in the cafeteria. Phoebe’s feelings for Tommy cause a lot of talk. People can’t believe she would want to have anything to do with a dead person.

Adam has to deal with Tommy in his own way. Tommy decides he wants to join the football team. The coach doesn’t want him to, of course, but the principal tells him he has no choice. Adam is the only player that gives Tommy a chance and sees what a great player he really is. The problem is, Adam starts to realize he has feelings that go beyond friendship for Phoebe and a love triangle is formed.

Margi can’t understand why Phoebe is warming up to the zombies. One of their best friends is one and Margi can’t seem to get past that Courtney was once alive and hung out with them all the time. She struggles to see what Phoebe likes about the zombies.

This fresh look at teen fiction contains it all. Light romance, paranormal oddities, danger, and suspense. Be sure to check this out as soon as it hits the shelf.

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Aug 24, 2009 Lindsey rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: teen, clean, fantasy, future, horror-elements, some-romance, ladies

Update - I just read that the sequel, "Kiss of Life", is coming out in May. Yay!

The setting of this book is present day, except that American teenagers have started to come back from the dead. Not all teenagers come back, and experts aren't sure what's causing this phenomenon. Fast food? Too much video games? Anyway, these "living impaired" students are re-entering school, but facing a lot of prejudice. They freak people out. No one socializes with them. One of the zombies decides he's going to...more

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Jul 07, 2011 Rebecca rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: young-adult, zombie

I bought this because I thought the idea of teenagers dying and coming back dead quite original but I was very dissappointed. There were some moments that I thought that it might be going somewhere but a lot of it was predictable-girl falls for the new guy but has a boy bestfriend who gets jelous. Nevertheless, I stuck with the story and it was ok so I decided to get the next book, knowing that sometimes the second book is much better than the first. It was, but not enough for me to carry on and...more

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Sep 06, 2010 Dawn rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: readers of Twilight Saga and The Uglies Triology

Recommended to Dawn by: Jennifer

Shelves: paranormal

This book was different than I expected it to be. It was more than I expected. Much more. Rather than being a humorous, kitschy book about teenage zombies, Generation Dead is a book about being different. More than that, it's a book about identity, relationship, love, and hate -- a book about being. And, if you want to learn something about yourself, it's well worth reading!

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Aug 24, 2009 Kristen rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: paranormal-fantasy, youngadult, own-it

This book was interesting.. basically these teenagers are dying and then coming back to life. They're trying to live normal lives and some even attend high school. There are a lot of prejudice against these "DB" - differently biotic - kids and they have no rights so their murders (decapitations, burnings, etc) go unpunished. Enter Phoebe - a goth girl who has a heavy interest in a DB boy who attends her school. Other situations entail and overall, I enjoyed the book, but there was not a lot of c...more

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Jan 03, 2012 Melanie rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Phoebe and Adam have been best friends since they were kids, but if you go to Oakvale High with them you might not know it. Adam's on the football team and dates cheerleaders while Goth-girl Phoebe hangs out with her pink-haired friend Margi. But Adam took karate over the summer and he's matured a great deal, so much in fact that he's decided he's going to start spending time with Phoebe more publically and he's going to tell her that he has more than just friendly feelings for her. There's only...more Phoebe and Adam have been best friends since they were kids, but if you go to Oakvale High with them you might not know it. Adam's on the football team and dates cheerleaders while Goth-girl Phoebe hangs out with her pink-haired friend Margi. But Adam took karate over the summer and he's matured a great deal, so much in fact that he's decided he's going to start spending time with Phoebe more publically and he's going to tell her that he has more than just friendly feelings for her. There's only one problem, Phoebe has a crush on someone else...someone not living.

Word is out, Oakvale High is a great school for you "differently biotic" (zombie, undead, etc) teen. Undead teens are rapidly populating the school, and intergrating. While Adam's teammates and former best friends vow to stop the infiltration, Adam has an even harder job--protecting the zom-er, uh, the differently biotic boy that Phoebe cares for.

Though it took a few chapters for me to really grab onto the story, once I did it wouldn't let go. I only had beef with a few things. One issue that bothered me was the lack of character development. The omniscent point of view flips between characters so frequently it's hard to get attached to any particular character. However, this may be because there are quite a number of interesting characters in this novel with potentially interesting backstories that the author mostly keeps to himself. In my young adult literature class we always start with "who's the protagonist?" In Generation Dead, I have no clue who the protag is...Also, a football season starts with one game and then a few are mentioned but then it's like "poof" football over, even though one of the main characters, Adam, is the "star of the football team."

Daniel Waters' debut novel is very...complex. There's a lot going on, with an archetypal layer of Wuthering Heights underneath, a modernized story of racial-like tension with prejudice and intergration mixed in, sprinkle in some hate crimes, lab research, unrequited love, and oh yeah, teenage zombies and you've got yourself a 392 page ya novel casserole. While I can't decide exactly how much of this I enjoyed, I will be coming back for seconds when my copy of the sequel Kiss of Life gets here.
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Dec 27, 2011 Fangs for the Fantasy rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Generation Dead by Daniel Waters was recommended to us by one of our readers, and after enduring this book, I have no idea what this person was thinking. As you may have guessed by the title, Generation Dead is a zombie story. In the movies the zombie is usually the antagonist, who spends most of its time trying to eat living humans; however, in Generation Dead, the zombies are trying to integrate into society. At this point the only zombies are teenagers, who come back after dying. Science cann...more

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Oct 25, 2011 El Templo de las Mil Puertas added it · review of another edition

Shelves: 15-eltemplo, reseñas

"Niños y niñas, jóvenes y jóvenas, atención a las últimas noticias del mundo: todo aquel que viva en los Estados Unidos de América, no supere la mayoría de edad y muera en circunstancias no demasiado desastrosas (quemarse hasta convertirse en polvo no vale), no tendrá por qué temer por su vida, porque USA vuelve a ser pionera en otro fenómeno más, la inmortalidad. Más o menos. Hoy, en EEUU y en el imaginario de Daniel Waters, el mundo baila al ritmo zombi: los no-adultos mueren, pero sólo durant...more

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Jan 02, 2010 Lara Lee rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

So this book turned out quite differently to what I had expected. The blurb made it look like it was going to be all about the romance between a zombie and a human, and while that was definitely still present, the novel had a much wider scope.

The actual story revolves mostly around the prejudice and discrimination the "living impaired" are subjected to by the still living humans. As a result of the strong anti-racism (or "anti-bioist" as it calls it) themes in this novel, it is not the lightest...more

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Mar 16, 2013 Trish rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. It took me a while to get into this book. It seems that a phenomenon such as the living dead would have been addressed a little more responsibly. Leaving it to the high schoolers seemed very unrealistic. Where was the Fringe team in all this?!

I mean, I get it... the comparison between race and differently biotic and the injustices and prejudices they endure. It was a good vehicle for questions, but I want to know more about the how and the "magic" and less about how a goth girl could be attract...more

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Feb 11, 2013 jc rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Truthfully, I saw this book in a clearance basket at a local shop, and bought it for two reason 1) the price was extremely reasonable and 2) well, the cover is just very cool.

I didn't expect to be highly entertained, or feel that Generation Dead would mean a thing to me except maybe a possibly mildly interesting read... Then, I read the book..

This is a book that could, and most likely has been over-looked by many. Or thought of as Twilight with zombies in place of vampires. In some ways you coul...more

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Jan 20, 2013 Laura rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Allow me to complain for a moment before recording my thoughts about this otherwise excellent book. This is a case where the cover, while eye-catching, has very, very little to do with the plot or overall message of the novel. To look at it, one would think that this book is about glamazombie cheerleaders. Not. even. close. Argh.

In this debut novel, dead teens don't always stay that way. Some inexplicably come back to "life," milky-skinned versions of themselves who leave scientists perplexed wi...more

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Dec 27, 2012 J rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Phoebe is a goth and, apparently, a trained barista (as she makes iced coffee all the damn time). She has a crush on a dead kid. This is because her gothic tendencies allow her to keep an open mind and love angsty, dead things. She is secretly loved by her best friend, who is (unbelievably) a football star who has more angst than Fiona Apple, Harry Potter circa year five at Hogwarts, and my sixteen-year-old cousin all together. Not to mention, all he fucking talks about is karate. By the third c...more

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Jun 27, 2012 Alicia Scully rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, gr-10-12, gr-8-10, horror, fantasy, romance, young-adult-lit

Phoebe is a teen goth girl who is trying to become more aware of the political and social movements around here. THe biggest issues gripping American is the sudden rise of teen zombies--creatures that aren't appearing in other nations and who aren't adult. The zombies have started rising for no apparent reason and there isn't a huge amount of similarities between the zombies that Phoebe knows. She becomes interested in Tommy, a highly intelligent "living impaired" boy who starts questioning his...more

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title link	preview: Generation Dead
avg rating	preview: Generation Dead Goodreads rating: 3.62 (7566 ratings)
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BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4872348-generation-dead?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1360573012l/4872348.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4872348-generation-dead?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]Generation Dead by Daniel Waters[/url]

Generation Dead (Generation Dead #1)

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