ZOM-B - Darren Shan

It's been rare, lately, to come across a novel that kept me glued to its pages, turning them like crazy, until I finished.  Fewer still, one that had me nearly toss the book (or in this case, my Kindle) across the room when something ... well, bad ... happened to a character I really cared about.  Darren Shan's Zom-B, the first of a 12-book zombie series geared toward teens, changed that.  The narrator of the novel is B (we don't find out B's gender until toward the end of the book) Smith, a British teen who's grown up with an extremely racist/bigoted father and a docile mother and is suffering the consequences of both; even knowing deep-down its wrong, B's own hate and racist attitude often bubbles to the surface, and a past spent with an abusive father has set a big chip on B's shoulder as well.  When word breaks out, on the news, of a horrific, zombie-like attack in Ireland, B - along with the clique B hangs with - thinks it's all some big hoax or sham ... until a few creepy incidents lead to a massive attack of the undead on B's school, when the book becomes officially un-put-down-able (and the gore/violence begins).  An excellent beginning, and the most emotionally involved I've been with a book in awhile.  ****1/2