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Zombie Baseball Beatdown
The apocalypse begins on the day Rabi, Miguel and Joe are practicing baseball near their town's local meatpacking plant and nearly get knocked out by a really big stink. Little do they know the plant's toxic cattle feed is turning cows into flesh-craving monsters...ZOMBIES!!!
The boys decide to launch a stealth investigation into the plant's dangerous practices, unknowingly discovering a greedy corporation's plot to look the other way as tainted meat is sold to thousands all over the country. With no grownups left they can trust, Rabi and his friends will have to grab their bats to protect themselves (and a few of their enemies) if they want to stay alive...and maybe even save the world.
In this inventive, fast-paced novel that strikes a pitch-perfect tone for reluctant readers, National Book Award finalist and Printz Award-winning author Paolo Bacigalupi effectively uses humour and high-intensity action to take on hard-hitting themes - from food safety to racism and immigration - and creates a zany, grand-slam adventure that will get kids thinking about where their food comes from.
The boys decide to launch a stealth investigation into the plant's dangerous practices, unknowingly discovering a greedy corporation's plot to look the other way as tainted meat is sold to thousands all over the country. With no grownups left they can trust, Rabi and his friends will have to grab their bats to protect themselves (and a few of their enemies) if they want to stay alive...and maybe even save the world.
In this inventive, fast-paced novel that strikes a pitch-perfect tone for reluctant readers, National Book Award finalist and Printz Award-winning author Paolo Bacigalupi effectively uses humour and high-intensity action to take on hard-hitting themes - from food safety to racism and immigration - and creates a zany, grand-slam adventure that will get kids thinking about where their food comes from.
304 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 10, 2013
About the author
Paolo Bacigalupi
116 books4,452 followersPaolo Bacigalupi is an award-winning author of novels for adults and young people.
His debut novel THE WINDUP GIRL was named by TIME Magazine as one of the ten best novels of 2009, and also won the Hugo, Nebula, Locus, Compton Crook, and John W. Campbell Memorial Awards. Internationally, it has won the Seiun Award (Japan), The Ignotus Award (Spain), The Kurd-Laßwitz-Preis (Germany), and the Grand Prix de l’Imaginaire (France).
His debut young adult novel, SHIP BREAKER, was a Micheal L. Printz Award Winner, and a National Book Award Finalist, and its sequel, THE DROWNED CITIES, was a 2012 Kirkus Reviews Best of YA Book, A 2012 VOYA Perfect Ten Book, and 2012 Los Angeles Times Book Prize Finalist. The final book in the series, TOOL OF WAR, will release in October of 2017.
His latest novel for adults is The New York Times Bestseller THE WATER KNIFE, a near-future thriller about climate change and drought in the southwestern United States.
His debut novel THE WINDUP GIRL was named by TIME Magazine as one of the ten best novels of 2009, and also won the Hugo, Nebula, Locus, Compton Crook, and John W. Campbell Memorial Awards. Internationally, it has won the Seiun Award (Japan), The Ignotus Award (Spain), The Kurd-Laßwitz-Preis (Germany), and the Grand Prix de l’Imaginaire (France).
His debut young adult novel, SHIP BREAKER, was a Micheal L. Printz Award Winner, and a National Book Award Finalist, and its sequel, THE DROWNED CITIES, was a 2012 Kirkus Reviews Best of YA Book, A 2012 VOYA Perfect Ten Book, and 2012 Los Angeles Times Book Prize Finalist. The final book in the series, TOOL OF WAR, will release in October of 2017.
His latest novel for adults is The New York Times Bestseller THE WATER KNIFE, a near-future thriller about climate change and drought in the southwestern United States.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 331 reviews
November 23, 2013
Don’t let the title completely fool you. Yes, there are zombies, there is baseball, and there is in fact a zombie baseball beatdown (so cool!). Paolo Bacigalupi’s middle reader novel is a whole lot of fun, but also, he packs quite the socially-conscious message, too. It’s a book for both the reluctant kid, and the kid who wants to read something with substance.
There isn’t a ton of novels targeted for, like, 5th graders that you can make this claim for. It’s basically Fast Food Nation for a much younger target audience. Zombie Baseball Beatdown is about an Indian boy named Rabi (a non-white protagonist), who lives in a small town in corn-country Iowa. A meat-packing plant supplies most of the jobs for the residents, and supplies the beef for seven neighboring states. He plays on the baseball team (or tries to) with his friend Joe, and best friend Miguel, as well as arch-enemy and bully, Sammy, who’s dad runs the Milrow Meat Solutions. And it’s the dad, Mr. Riggoni, who not only is behind pumping his fields of cows with drugs, feeding them full of chicken bones and scraps, and leaving them boxed-in like sardines in their own shit, and not to mention, has deported a number of his regular workers --which included Miguel’s mom, dad, uncle, and aunt-- only because they were forced to work in terrible conditions and wanted to go public. And it’s this tainted meat that’s creating these zombies …and zombie cows… and Milrow is willingly slicing and dicing them up, packaging the meat, putting them on trucks, and inciting the zombie apocalypse. And of course, as Rabi and his friends investigate, and just try to stay alive, it’s Milrow and their goons that try to shut them up and conceal their business practices.
So, to summarize, this is a middle reader book about zombies and baseball. But it’s also a middle reader book about immigration, racism, corporate greed, organic vs. processed foods, and finding one’s voice. There’s something here for all kids to enjoy, really. The only requirement is that they must have Brrrrraaaaaaaaaaiiiinnsssssssssssss!
Buy this from Powell's.
There isn’t a ton of novels targeted for, like, 5th graders that you can make this claim for. It’s basically Fast Food Nation for a much younger target audience. Zombie Baseball Beatdown is about an Indian boy named Rabi (a non-white protagonist), who lives in a small town in corn-country Iowa. A meat-packing plant supplies most of the jobs for the residents, and supplies the beef for seven neighboring states. He plays on the baseball team (or tries to) with his friend Joe, and best friend Miguel, as well as arch-enemy and bully, Sammy, who’s dad runs the Milrow Meat Solutions. And it’s the dad, Mr. Riggoni, who not only is behind pumping his fields of cows with drugs, feeding them full of chicken bones and scraps, and leaving them boxed-in like sardines in their own shit, and not to mention, has deported a number of his regular workers --which included Miguel’s mom, dad, uncle, and aunt-- only because they were forced to work in terrible conditions and wanted to go public. And it’s this tainted meat that’s creating these zombies …and zombie cows… and Milrow is willingly slicing and dicing them up, packaging the meat, putting them on trucks, and inciting the zombie apocalypse. And of course, as Rabi and his friends investigate, and just try to stay alive, it’s Milrow and their goons that try to shut them up and conceal their business practices.
So, to summarize, this is a middle reader book about zombies and baseball. But it’s also a middle reader book about immigration, racism, corporate greed, organic vs. processed foods, and finding one’s voice. There’s something here for all kids to enjoy, really. The only requirement is that they must have Brrrrraaaaaaaaaaiiiinnsssssssssssss!
Buy this from Powell's.
December 26, 2014
This was like Upton Sinclair's "The Jungle" but for middle schoolers. I do not enjoy my zombie/baseball books to be so preachy about meat farms. I wish there was a 0 star option as it barely delivered on zombies and baseball.
June 9, 2015
Zombie Baseball Beatdown, as its title implies, is about zombies being beat down with baseball bats, but it's also about the meatpacking industry, and it's also about immigration policy, and it's also about racism, and this is a middle-grade book, so way to go, Paolo Bacigalupi.
Rabindranath Chatterjee-Jones, as his name implies, is half-Indian (half-Bengali, specifically), and that was a huge draw for me, as I rarely see Indian protagonists in fiction, let alone a middle-grade book. His name does get shortened to the more palatable "Rabi," though; on the one hand it would have been cool to see the full, more obviously non-American name over and over, and on the other hand, it makes perfect sense that a kid with a name like Rabindranath living in America would go by Rabi. His best friend Miguel is Mexican, living with his aunt and uncle after his parents were deported. Their friend Joe is a clean-cut, white American boy. This central trio is fun and likable, each with distinct personalities. (Sadly, this central trio is all boys, as are all the other members of the baseball team. There is literally one girl in the book and she's on the page for about two paragraphs. She's a cool girl, but...one girl. [There are a few women, but adults aren't the focus of a middle-grade book.])
Rabi and his pals discover something shady going on at Milrow Meats, and by something shady I mean zombies. I mean zombie cows. Surprisingly, the book isn't as packed full of zombie action as I expected; it mostly follows the kids as they try to break the story. And try to teach a racist bully a lesson about acceptance. The climax, however, gloriously lives up to the promise of the title.
Zombie Baseball Beatdown is a quick read, and I enjoyed the characters, especially the nerdy references to Transmetropolitan and Left 4 Dead. I appreciated the portrayals of Rabi and Miguel and Bacigalupi's refusal to sugarcoat the actual racism kids like them do experience; their stories do make the book more interesting than if this were just about three white Iowa kids. And while I was drawn to Rabi initially, it's Miguel who makes this book, as his conflict is central to the story. Overall, the book doesn't take itself too seriously, except when it needs to, when it's about the characters and their development. I don't care about baseball, but I do care about zombies being beat down with baseball bats, and this book has it.
Rabindranath Chatterjee-Jones, as his name implies, is half-Indian (half-Bengali, specifically), and that was a huge draw for me, as I rarely see Indian protagonists in fiction, let alone a middle-grade book. His name does get shortened to the more palatable "Rabi," though; on the one hand it would have been cool to see the full, more obviously non-American name over and over, and on the other hand, it makes perfect sense that a kid with a name like Rabindranath living in America would go by Rabi. His best friend Miguel is Mexican, living with his aunt and uncle after his parents were deported. Their friend Joe is a clean-cut, white American boy. This central trio is fun and likable, each with distinct personalities. (Sadly, this central trio is all boys, as are all the other members of the baseball team. There is literally one girl in the book and she's on the page for about two paragraphs. She's a cool girl, but...one girl. [There are a few women, but adults aren't the focus of a middle-grade book.])
Rabi and his pals discover something shady going on at Milrow Meats, and by something shady I mean zombies. I mean zombie cows. Surprisingly, the book isn't as packed full of zombie action as I expected; it mostly follows the kids as they try to break the story. And try to teach a racist bully a lesson about acceptance. The climax, however, gloriously lives up to the promise of the title.
Zombie Baseball Beatdown is a quick read, and I enjoyed the characters, especially the nerdy references to Transmetropolitan and Left 4 Dead. I appreciated the portrayals of Rabi and Miguel and Bacigalupi's refusal to sugarcoat the actual racism kids like them do experience; their stories do make the book more interesting than if this were just about three white Iowa kids. And while I was drawn to Rabi initially, it's Miguel who makes this book, as his conflict is central to the story. Overall, the book doesn't take itself too seriously, except when it needs to, when it's about the characters and their development. I don't care about baseball, but I do care about zombies being beat down with baseball bats, and this book has it.
March 27, 2021
2104 YA Locus award nominee.
Read for the 2021 Horror Aficionados Mt TBR Challenge. This book has been on my WWE reading list since 2013.
Paolo Bacigalupi does at times get just a little preachy, and he went in full preach mode in the epilogue, which I could have done without to be honest. That being said, if I was the target audience, middle school boys, I suspect would have been overjoyed with this book.
Read for the 2021 Horror Aficionados Mt TBR Challenge. This book has been on my WWE reading list since 2013.
Paolo Bacigalupi does at times get just a little preachy, and he went in full preach mode in the epilogue, which I could have done without to be honest. That being said, if I was the target audience, middle school boys, I suspect would have been overjoyed with this book.
November 10, 2014
I read this with an eye toward booktalking for the junior high kids, and I really didn't expect to enjoy it... I really don't do zombies, but I know a lot of kids do, and so I figured I'd force myself to read this zombie book so I could tell kids about it, since they will surely enjoy it.
But I did really like it! I still don't really care about zombies but I'm super invested in YA critiques of CAFO farming and US treatment of undocumented workers, and I loveddd how this is a very reasonable critique of those things without being an Issue Book. It's a Zombie Book, about kids whose lives are impacted by those real issues.
Also, it's pretty funny. YAY
But I did really like it! I still don't really care about zombies but I'm super invested in YA critiques of CAFO farming and US treatment of undocumented workers, and I loveddd how this is a very reasonable critique of those things without being an Issue Book. It's a Zombie Book, about kids whose lives are impacted by those real issues.
Also, it's pretty funny. YAY
October 3, 2014
Great believable story about factory farms, ICEcapades, and a diverse crew of underdogs just trying to get by.
Slightly less mindblowing than I wanted it to be, and I never really feel like it wowed me, but when I think about everything packed in here, and the fact that I never seriously considered not finishing it in the months that it took me to read it, I think this is a win.
I mean, duh. Factory farms are a ripe setting for horror - more people should do this!
Slightly less mindblowing than I wanted it to be, and I never really feel like it wowed me, but when I think about everything packed in here, and the fact that I never seriously considered not finishing it in the months that it took me to read it, I think this is a win.
I mean, duh. Factory farms are a ripe setting for horror - more people should do this!
October 12, 2013
I’ve always thought that Middle Grade must be the hardest category in which to write. It needs to appeal to such a narrow niche in such a narrow way, and the author has to be able to come up with just the right blend of silly and grown-up for that very volatile age group. Paolo Bacigalupi manages to get it just right.
His hero is 13-year old Rabindranath Chatterjee-Jones, called Rabi by his friends, who lives in a company town dominated by Milrow Meat Solutions, a processing plant making beef to feed people in seven states. The bully on his middle school’s little league team is Sammy Riggoni, whose father owns Milrow’s. Sammy keeps trying to pick fights with Rabi and his friend Miguel, whose parents were booted first out of Milrow’s and then the country for being illegal immigrants. Miguel now lives with his aunt and uncle, who also work at the plant.
Rabi, Miguel, and their “all-American-looking” friend Joe are practicing baseball out a field behind Milrow’s (to avoid the bullies on the regular field) when they discover an awful secret about the meat at the packing plant. The feed has become toxic from all the additives and chemicals given to the cows to increase production, and suddenly, some of them have turned into zombies. Moreover, anyone who gets bitten is turned into a zombie as well. But it doesn’t appear that Milrow’s is going to change their practices - in fact, the boys discover Milrow’s is still trying to distribute the tainted meat!
Can the boys stop them in time, and save the world from zombie-dom?
Discussion: Bacigalupi takes some subjects bound to appeal to kids, like little league baseball, comic books, bullying, fitting in, determining right from wrong, and zombies, and puts them into a political and social context so that the book is not only entertaining, but educational.
Moreover, his hero cleverly employs (and teaches the other kids about) an Aesopian rhetorical strategy to get around censorship: in this case, to subvert the legal strictures against exposing wrongdoing by the local meatpacking plant. Rabi explains:
Evaluation: Sometimes Middle Grade books are just too silly for me, but Bacigalupi (a National Book Award finalist) held my interest throughout. And I lovehow he teaches kids about some very current and important issues (such as immigration policy and genetically modified food) in ways that never seemed forced. But he also weaves in a theme important to his other books: what makes you human, and what makes you a monster, and how can you choose to be the former rather than the latter?
His hero is 13-year old Rabindranath Chatterjee-Jones, called Rabi by his friends, who lives in a company town dominated by Milrow Meat Solutions, a processing plant making beef to feed people in seven states. The bully on his middle school’s little league team is Sammy Riggoni, whose father owns Milrow’s. Sammy keeps trying to pick fights with Rabi and his friend Miguel, whose parents were booted first out of Milrow’s and then the country for being illegal immigrants. Miguel now lives with his aunt and uncle, who also work at the plant.
Rabi, Miguel, and their “all-American-looking” friend Joe are practicing baseball out a field behind Milrow’s (to avoid the bullies on the regular field) when they discover an awful secret about the meat at the packing plant. The feed has become toxic from all the additives and chemicals given to the cows to increase production, and suddenly, some of them have turned into zombies. Moreover, anyone who gets bitten is turned into a zombie as well. But it doesn’t appear that Milrow’s is going to change their practices - in fact, the boys discover Milrow’s is still trying to distribute the tainted meat!
Can the boys stop them in time, and save the world from zombie-dom?
Discussion: Bacigalupi takes some subjects bound to appeal to kids, like little league baseball, comic books, bullying, fitting in, determining right from wrong, and zombies, and puts them into a political and social context so that the book is not only entertaining, but educational.
Moreover, his hero cleverly employs (and teaches the other kids about) an Aesopian rhetorical strategy to get around censorship: in this case, to subvert the legal strictures against exposing wrongdoing by the local meatpacking plant. Rabi explains:
The thing I realized while we were talking at the lawyer’s table was that Milrow Meat Solutions would sue us to death for telling the truth. ...They’d make all kinds of trouble about the truth. They really could take away our house and all that kind of stuff, but there was one way, maybe, they couldn’t. And that’s if we made the whole thing up. So here you’ve got this book in your hands, and I’m telling you - straight up and down - that I made this whole story up.”
Evaluation: Sometimes Middle Grade books are just too silly for me, but Bacigalupi (a National Book Award finalist) held my interest throughout. And I lovehow he teaches kids about some very current and important issues (such as immigration policy and genetically modified food) in ways that never seemed forced. But he also weaves in a theme important to his other books: what makes you human, and what makes you a monster, and how can you choose to be the former rather than the latter?
September 22, 2017
Zombie Baseball Beatdown was about Rabi and Miguel and how they are playing baseball on the Delbe Diamondbacks deling with a bully on their team sammy who is always picking on them and saying they suck at baseball. Also miguel has a secret his parents were imgrants and they got deported and now miguel wants Rabi to keep he secret. Also Rabi and Miguel went to the meat packing plant to expose Sammy's dad for doing illegal experiment's on their animals.
my favorite character was Miguel because he always stuck up for what was right and what he be leaved was right like when Sammy was making fun of Miguel and he started to beat Sammy up. these characters felt real to me because you could picture in your head the events the were going on like when they went to the meat packing plant and alarms started to go off because something was going on inside because of their experiment's. this story did keep making me guess because you had to anticipate what was going to happen next or just wait until the next chapter to figure it out. my favorite part of the book was when Sammy and Miguel were fighting because that showed how Miguel stuck up for him self and did not let Sammy pick on him. my favorite part was when Rabi was watching the news about what happened at the meat packing plant and hoe they were saying nothing happened and Rabi was saying how they were lying and what he really saw. This book didn't really make me laugh or cry because it was not really sad or funny it was kind of more of a mystery of what was going to happen next. this story made me want to keep reading the book because you wanted to know what was going to happen and what they were going to find out about the meat packing plant.
I wish they really would have elaborated more on what was going to happen at the end it would have been more supeinsfull. I did not find it difficult because he was really the base of the story and him and Miguel were trying to expose the meat packing plant for what the were doing and how it was not right. the story was not scary at all it was more interesting because they were talking about the bad experiments the meat packing plant was doing it was kind of cool.
my thoughts on the book was that it kept me interested and I kept wanting to read it more and more every day to see what was going to happen. I would recommend this book to someone likes sapience and action because this book has a lot of both and someone likes sports and baseball. I give this book five stars it met the expectations I expected it to make and it was better than I thought it was going to be.
my favorite character was Miguel because he always stuck up for what was right and what he be leaved was right like when Sammy was making fun of Miguel and he started to beat Sammy up. these characters felt real to me because you could picture in your head the events the were going on like when they went to the meat packing plant and alarms started to go off because something was going on inside because of their experiment's. this story did keep making me guess because you had to anticipate what was going to happen next or just wait until the next chapter to figure it out. my favorite part of the book was when Sammy and Miguel were fighting because that showed how Miguel stuck up for him self and did not let Sammy pick on him. my favorite part was when Rabi was watching the news about what happened at the meat packing plant and hoe they were saying nothing happened and Rabi was saying how they were lying and what he really saw. This book didn't really make me laugh or cry because it was not really sad or funny it was kind of more of a mystery of what was going to happen next. this story made me want to keep reading the book because you wanted to know what was going to happen and what they were going to find out about the meat packing plant.
I wish they really would have elaborated more on what was going to happen at the end it would have been more supeinsfull. I did not find it difficult because he was really the base of the story and him and Miguel were trying to expose the meat packing plant for what the were doing and how it was not right. the story was not scary at all it was more interesting because they were talking about the bad experiments the meat packing plant was doing it was kind of cool.
my thoughts on the book was that it kept me interested and I kept wanting to read it more and more every day to see what was going to happen. I would recommend this book to someone likes sapience and action because this book has a lot of both and someone likes sports and baseball. I give this book five stars it met the expectations I expected it to make and it was better than I thought it was going to be.
September 14, 2013
I needed something fun and relatively quick to read last week. Fortunately, I had a copy of Paolo Bacigalupi's Zombie Baseball Beatdown that I picked up at Book Expo of America.
This is a middle grade book about baseball and the U. S. meat industry and racism and bullying and comic books and of course, the zombie apocalypse. It’s the first book I’ve read from Bacigalupi, and it’s rather different from his other work.
The bad news is that while the violence is rather cartoonish, it would still give my son nightmares, so I won’t be reading this one to him. The good news is ZOMBIE COWS!
There’s actually a lot going on in this book. Bacigalupi takes some no-holds-barred shots at the meatpacking industry in particular. The description of the cows crammed into the pens, or the way they’re butchered, is far more disturbing than the zombie scenes. While I’m fairly certain our meat processing corporations haven’t actually unleashed the zombie apocalypse, the rest of the details ring nauseatingly true.
The protagonist, Rabindranath, is great. He’s a math geek, and I loved the way Bacigalupi described things through his eyes, the way he looks at the other players on his baseball team and sees their stats like power meters from a video game, their strengths and weaknesses all laid out for him.
Of the three heroes, Rabi, Joe, and Miguel, only one of the three is white. Without getting too preachy, Bacigalupi examines what it’s like to be a kid in America who doesn’t look “American.” They send Joe out at one point because, being the blond, blue-eyed kid, he has the superpower of being unnoticed and invisible. The fact that Miguel’s family is undocumented also comes up, both the consequences and the pain and fear Miguel carries every day.
In the end though, everything comes back to zombies. Kids with bats and balls chasing zombies, then turning around and running like hell from other zombies. Trying to get help against the zombies, only to run up against police officers who don’t take them seriously and lawyers more concerned with making the problem go away.
I’m curious what a younger reader would think of the story, how much they’d pick up on the commentary vs. how much they’d just get into the zombie-smackdown.
Oh – and I loved Bart the zombie-cow.
This is a middle grade book about baseball and the U. S. meat industry and racism and bullying and comic books and of course, the zombie apocalypse. It’s the first book I’ve read from Bacigalupi, and it’s rather different from his other work.
The bad news is that while the violence is rather cartoonish, it would still give my son nightmares, so I won’t be reading this one to him. The good news is ZOMBIE COWS!
There’s actually a lot going on in this book. Bacigalupi takes some no-holds-barred shots at the meatpacking industry in particular. The description of the cows crammed into the pens, or the way they’re butchered, is far more disturbing than the zombie scenes. While I’m fairly certain our meat processing corporations haven’t actually unleashed the zombie apocalypse, the rest of the details ring nauseatingly true.
The protagonist, Rabindranath, is great. He’s a math geek, and I loved the way Bacigalupi described things through his eyes, the way he looks at the other players on his baseball team and sees their stats like power meters from a video game, their strengths and weaknesses all laid out for him.
Of the three heroes, Rabi, Joe, and Miguel, only one of the three is white. Without getting too preachy, Bacigalupi examines what it’s like to be a kid in America who doesn’t look “American.” They send Joe out at one point because, being the blond, blue-eyed kid, he has the superpower of being unnoticed and invisible. The fact that Miguel’s family is undocumented also comes up, both the consequences and the pain and fear Miguel carries every day.
In the end though, everything comes back to zombies. Kids with bats and balls chasing zombies, then turning around and running like hell from other zombies. Trying to get help against the zombies, only to run up against police officers who don’t take them seriously and lawyers more concerned with making the problem go away.
I’m curious what a younger reader would think of the story, how much they’d pick up on the commentary vs. how much they’d just get into the zombie-smackdown.
Oh – and I loved Bart the zombie-cow.
December 9, 2013
Zombie Baseball Beatdown is one of those books you think will be silly, gross and the perfect book for middle grade boys. All of this is true, but there is so much more to the story and characters than just a horrific zombie story. Rabi is our main character, being an Indian American, he faces some bullying from a boy on his baseball team. When his mother has to leave to go to the funeral of a relative, he convinces her to leave him behind to stay with his friend Miguel.
An unfortunate factory accident leaves a stinky smell (literally) as well as Miguel's aunt and uncle being deported, leaving the two boys pretty much without adult supervision. With the help of their friend Joe, they soon find themselves not only dealing with missing family but zombies. The fact that they all play baseball helps the boys as they travel around, trying to figure out how to let the police know about the zombie problem.
Nothing is ever that simple, and a lawyer even steps in to convince the boys to drop their mission for letting the world know about the zombies, and there's even a zombie cow. I thought that was an interesting twist to the story, but the boys don't stop there. I thought this was a fun zombie book but with added deeper issues ingrained into the story. The boys had their own characteristics supported by backgrounds and I loved seeing such a diverse set of friends in middle grade literature.
Final Verdict: While hitting all of the gorey zombie details, Zombie Baseball Beatdown goes beyond a zombie story and delves into issues of race, friendship and bullying.
An unfortunate factory accident leaves a stinky smell (literally) as well as Miguel's aunt and uncle being deported, leaving the two boys pretty much without adult supervision. With the help of their friend Joe, they soon find themselves not only dealing with missing family but zombies. The fact that they all play baseball helps the boys as they travel around, trying to figure out how to let the police know about the zombie problem.
Nothing is ever that simple, and a lawyer even steps in to convince the boys to drop their mission for letting the world know about the zombies, and there's even a zombie cow. I thought that was an interesting twist to the story, but the boys don't stop there. I thought this was a fun zombie book but with added deeper issues ingrained into the story. The boys had their own characteristics supported by backgrounds and I loved seeing such a diverse set of friends in middle grade literature.
Final Verdict: While hitting all of the gorey zombie details, Zombie Baseball Beatdown goes beyond a zombie story and delves into issues of race, friendship and bullying.
May 30, 2017
Staff Pick
Rabi, Miguel, and Joe know something weird is going on at the local meatpacking plant, and they're determined to find out what. Especially after their baseball coach tries to eat their brains. This book goes beyond your standard zombie apocalypse story to touch on issues of immigration, corporate greed, and just what goes into the food we eat. I highly recommend it.
Rabi, Miguel, and Joe know something weird is going on at the local meatpacking plant, and they're determined to find out what. Especially after their baseball coach tries to eat their brains. This book goes beyond your standard zombie apocalypse story to touch on issues of immigration, corporate greed, and just what goes into the food we eat. I highly recommend it.
January 22, 2014
This is a book I thought id taste and put down but you know what it wasn't I finished it on the day I really enjoyed it despite some serious suspension of disbelief and of course the greedy evil corporation just a fun creepy gross read kids will love! thanks Siri for the lack of punctuation.
October 30, 2017
This book is very good due to its epic plot and mystery around the meatpacking plantation near the baseball fields. But the main characters Rabie, Miguel, and Joe are playing baseball on the fields right next to a meatpacking factory when suddenly a disturbing smell lashes out the meat packing factory and the cows are turned into zombies due to the toxic slop they ate that changes them. So the workers cut the cows up into patty's and feed them to the community. This is were the three main characters journey starts into the new world.
This book is very interesting due to all the surprises that happen throughout the book and how it keeps you guessing as you read more of the book. But there are many laughs through out this book that always make you want to keep on reading. But one of my favorite scenes was when one of the characters were attacked by a zombie in the fields around the meatpacking factory. This was my favorite part because their was so much suspense in this scene. But this book always made me wanting to read more because of how exciting it was. But this book did something else that other books don't often do. This book made the three main characters feel real like you would actually be friends with them in real life. So this made me really jovial due to the author putting in the extra work.
One part of the book really disappointed me and that part was at the end. I wish it would have been more of a cliff hanger than the ending just being so general and brod and not very exciting. But I also didn't like how the author included extra little things in the book that don't really matter. But in all, the book was done really well but some parts I wish the author would have just left out than including them.
Overall, this book deserves four stars due to how it really included intense scenes that always kept me reading and on the edge of my seat. But I suggest you read this book if you're the type of person who likes horror and suspense. So overall, this book was very good and I suggest you read it. But I loved this book and I know you will.
This book is very interesting due to all the surprises that happen throughout the book and how it keeps you guessing as you read more of the book. But there are many laughs through out this book that always make you want to keep on reading. But one of my favorite scenes was when one of the characters were attacked by a zombie in the fields around the meatpacking factory. This was my favorite part because their was so much suspense in this scene. But this book always made me wanting to read more because of how exciting it was. But this book did something else that other books don't often do. This book made the three main characters feel real like you would actually be friends with them in real life. So this made me really jovial due to the author putting in the extra work.
One part of the book really disappointed me and that part was at the end. I wish it would have been more of a cliff hanger than the ending just being so general and brod and not very exciting. But I also didn't like how the author included extra little things in the book that don't really matter. But in all, the book was done really well but some parts I wish the author would have just left out than including them.
Overall, this book deserves four stars due to how it really included intense scenes that always kept me reading and on the edge of my seat. But I suggest you read this book if you're the type of person who likes horror and suspense. So overall, this book was very good and I suggest you read it. But I loved this book and I know you will.
July 8, 2016
If there's one thing I'm gathering from my reading this year, it's that Iowa is the fictional hub for some weird s*** goin' down in America. I think it's the corn.
I was curious to see whether a middle grade zombie book could actually be achieved, and Bacigalupi delivered. The zombie thing *does* take quite a bit longer than expected to really get going though, and in the meantime, Bacigalupi ties in food/animal ethics to make the whole scenario believable and meta. He also discusses white privilege in a poignant way, especially in light of the particular events of the past three days. It's true, it can feel heavy-handed at times, at least as an adult reading this, but I think it could be a great conversation starter for a grade schooler/middle schooler. The reader was pretty fun as well...we really need more POC audiobook readers.
My detractors were the slow-ish plot and the extent to which cliched phrases were used (I started narrating the thing myself). Also, holy cats. Where this book excels at racial/ethnic diversity, it is woefully negligent of gender parity. Mothers/aunts are literally out of the country almost immediately, and one girl takes up the fight for, like, a sentence at the end. Guess girls don't really have a stake in this, huh.
I was curious to see whether a middle grade zombie book could actually be achieved, and Bacigalupi delivered. The zombie thing *does* take quite a bit longer than expected to really get going though, and in the meantime, Bacigalupi ties in food/animal ethics to make the whole scenario believable and meta. He also discusses white privilege in a poignant way, especially in light of the particular events of the past three days. It's true, it can feel heavy-handed at times, at least as an adult reading this, but I think it could be a great conversation starter for a grade schooler/middle schooler. The reader was pretty fun as well...we really need more POC audiobook readers.
My detractors were the slow-ish plot and the extent to which cliched phrases were used (I started narrating the thing myself). Also, holy cats. Where this book excels at racial/ethnic diversity, it is woefully negligent of gender parity. Mothers/aunts are literally out of the country almost immediately, and one girl takes up the fight for, like, a sentence at the end. Guess girls don't really have a stake in this, huh.
April 16, 2013
Who knew Paolo Bacigalupi could also do hilarious? I've loved everything he's written sofar, but I didn't know about the funny side. This book has the promised zombies, and a big fat ol' streak of satire, but it's also great fun. There's Rabindranath Chatterjee-Jones, our geeky hero, whose middle school misery is compounded by his mother turning up to his baseball games in a neon-yellow sari and yelling out his full name in support of his truly dire efforts at baseball. There's his best friends, Miguel, the son of Mexican immigrants, and Joe, the resident nut job whose father drinks too much. This band of misfits discovers what we all secretly think goes on in meat processing plants - namely, that cows that are fed moo meat parts go crazy and become zombies. But when cows bite humans...? Without doing plot spoilers, I will say that anyone who's been tormented by a sadistic physed coach or teacher is gonna LOVE one of these scenes. The fact that it also touches on racism, bullying, corporate corruption, and the plight of illegal immigrants is also good, but Paolo wraps this all up in a highly entertaining story.
December 21, 2013
This is the second young-adult zombie book my beloved wife has brought home for me. Where Eat Brains Love treated zombie-ism as an STD, this outbreak is caused by the beef processing industry. So, meat bad. Oh, and let's throw in immigration, bullying, corporate lawyers and clueless parents.
The basic plot is that a bunch of kids uncover a corporate conspiracy and live to tell the tale
Seriously, the author went through every meme and trope on this one, trying to make one stick. I expected to see a PETA endorsement somewhere on the jacket, or an Occupy Wall Street link. Yet I didn't get the feeling that the author really is much of an activist. Instead, I got the sense that he thought "maybe this would be a good plot twist or motivation" without really understanding it.
This is basically a book designed to get kids to read it because it has zombies, but it is not a good story.
Don't bother with this one.
The basic plot is that a bunch of kids uncover a corporate conspiracy and live to tell the tale
Seriously, the author went through every meme and trope on this one, trying to make one stick. I expected to see a PETA endorsement somewhere on the jacket, or an Occupy Wall Street link. Yet I didn't get the feeling that the author really is much of an activist. Instead, I got the sense that he thought "maybe this would be a good plot twist or motivation" without really understanding it.
This is basically a book designed to get kids to read it because it has zombies, but it is not a good story.
Don't bother with this one.
December 13, 2014
It was an ordinary day of baseball and being bullied for Rabi, Joe, and Miguel when the zombie apocalypse began. Rabi gets attacked by the baseball coach and gathers his friends to help him save their small town. The three friends soon learn that the zombies may have come from the meat packing plant, who tried to sweep a tainted meat scandal under the rug. Will the three be able to uncover the full story, and keep the world from a major catastrophe?
This book is so much more than just zombies, baseballs, and beatdowns! How could you want more, you ask? Well on top of humor, and action we actually get a dose of some serious social commentary. Bacigalupi manages to talk about racism, food safely, and immigration. It is nice to see a book for this age group have more than one layer! My one big issue with this is that it seems to be packing a little bit too much into such a small book, and the themes and plot can be overwhelming at times. However if you can take it in small pieces, you may just find yourself cheering in the scenes with Zombie Cows!
This book is so much more than just zombies, baseballs, and beatdowns! How could you want more, you ask? Well on top of humor, and action we actually get a dose of some serious social commentary. Bacigalupi manages to talk about racism, food safely, and immigration. It is nice to see a book for this age group have more than one layer! My one big issue with this is that it seems to be packing a little bit too much into such a small book, and the themes and plot can be overwhelming at times. However if you can take it in small pieces, you may just find yourself cheering in the scenes with Zombie Cows!
September 23, 2013
I am not a fan of zombie literature, and I was pleasantly surprised with the depth of the story line in this book. While it does have the requisite zombie fight scenes, there are so many more levels to this book. It deals with the contemporary issues of illegal immigrants and factory reform in a way that middle grade students will relate to and understand.
Rabi, Miguel, and Joe are on the same baseball team. While practicing one day, they notice some strange goings on at their town's meat packing plant, where Miguel's family works. Although it is instantly covered up by the plant's managers, the three boys discover that a mutation to the meat is creating zombie cows and in turn zombie people. Can they reveal the danger before it is too late? Or will the zombie beef turn their whole town into zombies?
ARC provided by publisher.
Rabi, Miguel, and Joe are on the same baseball team. While practicing one day, they notice some strange goings on at their town's meat packing plant, where Miguel's family works. Although it is instantly covered up by the plant's managers, the three boys discover that a mutation to the meat is creating zombie cows and in turn zombie people. Can they reveal the danger before it is too late? Or will the zombie beef turn their whole town into zombies?
ARC provided by publisher.
October 3, 2014
1. Misleading title alert! Better off as "Fast Food Nation with Zombies" or "Gross-Out Books with a Strong Moral Conscience."
2. I thought parts of it were creative. I liked the protagonist, Rabi, who couldn't hit a baseball to save his life and Rabi's friends, who are cartoonish in their quailities of humility and bravery (Miguel) or tomfoolishness (Joe.) I like the idea of a zombie-action-gross-out boyhumor book that has some deeper themes in it.
3. BUT I found myself swinging in and out of extended fight scenes, with interesting characters and situations dancing off somewhere carelessly in the background, and overall I just found myself losing interest.
Too bad!
2. I thought parts of it were creative. I liked the protagonist, Rabi, who couldn't hit a baseball to save his life and Rabi's friends, who are cartoonish in their quailities of humility and bravery (Miguel) or tomfoolishness (Joe.) I like the idea of a zombie-action-gross-out boyhumor book that has some deeper themes in it.
3. BUT I found myself swinging in and out of extended fight scenes, with interesting characters and situations dancing off somewhere carelessly in the background, and overall I just found myself losing interest.
Too bad!
November 15, 2013
I thought that this was a funny, sometimes-gross story about friendship, bullies, the evils of the corporate food industry, and all that is wrong with the US policy on illegal immigrants. Oh, yeah and zombies. This fast-paced story was engaging from cover to cover--a perfect read for boys or anyone who wants to laugh out loud and be grossed out on the same page of a book.
September 23, 2013
Not my typical read, but it was actually really well done and a lot of fun. It touches on a lot of real issues, like factory farming and immigration, while still in the end being a fun book full of zombie cows and some truly funny situations. I will be recommending this one to plenty of reluctant readers at the library!
May 3, 2015
Awesome YA story about baseball, meat-packing plants (yes, I flashed back on THE JUNGLE by Upton Sinclair), and zombies. Plus how illegal immigrants are handled and small-town prejudice. Lots of great thoughtty stuff to counterpoint the YA derring-do of our heroes.
(I bought two copies, one for me and one for a friend who also enjoys Paolo's work and definitely enjoyed this novel!)
(I bought two copies, one for me and one for a friend who also enjoys Paolo's work and definitely enjoyed this novel!)
October 13, 2016
I really loved the book it takes comedy and action to a whole new level in my opinion and it's just like real life everybody learns to like and some time despise each other some other books don't have this aspect of reality but this one certainly does and in my personal preference this is probably my favorite book I have ever read
October 14, 2016
I picked this book up in an attempt to read outside my normal interests. Sports and zombies are not usually my thing, and I was anticipating a light read, only to discover a critique of the meatpacking industry, corporate greed, racism, and immigration laws. Plus zombies (including zombie cows) and some baseball.
December 10, 2013
This book was read to my son Calvin. He loved the book and wants a second book! The characters were full and robust. Good back stores and lots of back text. Fun!
July 23, 2014
I thought this was delightful!
August 14, 2020
Working together, we can do anything.
January 24, 2014
This was a pretty fun kid's book. I think it's for middle grades, not even YA. I just dig most of the author's work and this brings the same sort of social/class/environmental consciousness in a sparsely-built-but-intriguing world vibe. The ending was satisfying.
September 25, 2013
This will appeal to the middle school boys, but it was not my cup of tea. It's really a cry against the meat-packing industry and condemnation for the businesses that exploit immigrant workers. I was disappointed after loving Ship Breaker so much because the level of writing here was just weaker--heavy emphasis on dialogue rather than character development.
December 11, 2019
I love Bacigalupi's work, but this was a total failure as a book. Don't want to read about no zombies, and while I'm at it, no werewolves, no vampires, no people with sparks coming out of their fingers, and please feel free to extrapolate from there.
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