Rise of Zombert
(Zombert Chronicles #1)

In this spooky series launch, friends Mellie and Danny find a scraggly cat after Danny, an aspiring filmmaker scouting for a horror movie location, drags Mellie to the YummCo Foods factory's eerie grounds. Smitten with the skinny cat, which has escaped from a cage in the mysterious factory's lab, Mellie takes him home. There, he bites off her stuffed animals' heads and proudly flaunts his hunting prowess outdoors, leaving his prey's decapitated bodies for her to find. Intermittently taking over for Mellie as narrator, the feline--named ZomBert for his brain-eating, "zombie-cat" behaviors--has some of the novel's snappier lines; he's offended when Mellie buries his gift of a headless frog "without even tasting it!" LaReau (the Infamous Ratsos series) credibly weaves real-life strands into the plot--Mellie resents her lifestyle blogger parents' preoccupation with their work, is anxious about presenting her school report, and tries to deflect a bully's taunts--yet leaves enough threads hanging mid-air, largely surrounding cryptic goings-on at YummCo, that the story feels unfinished on its own. Energetic pictures by Andrews (The Dollar Kids) add to the story's mood. Ages 8-12. (July)