Karma Meets a Zombie is probably the most ambitious book I’ve chosen for my reading programme for ages nine and ten. I read Karma Fights a Monster some time ago and I loved it. I even wrote about it in an essay on monsters and stereotypes because I was struck by how unusual the monster is.
Karma Meets a Zombie is a different kind of unusual. For instance, is the monster necessarily the antagonist? What makes someone a monster? And what does a monster hunter do, really?
There are several reasons I call it an ambitious read for my book club. For one, no pictures! It’s the first book we’re reading together that has no inside illustrations.
Two, I haven’t touched upon horror as a theme at all so far, especially as I didn’t read much horror as a child. (I did read a few Goosebumps because I won five of those for … something. Now that I come to think of it, I have no idea what I won. I just remember winning five of the Goosebumps series and five of the Babysitters Club series.)
How will a nine-year-old respond to a hand detaching itself from a zombie and attacking? Honestly, I don’t know. But I find myself thinking – if children can read books like The Witches, why not?
After going back and forth multiple times, I went ahead with this book because it has so much to offer at a programme like mine. Take a look at what I want to do with it.
Book Discussion
Tenzin used to be the school bully. When he returns to school as a zombie, he becomes the victim, leaving Karma conflicted. Is the monster really the bad guy?
A book like Karma Meets a Zombie opens up several discussions on heroes, villains and all the grey areas in between. I’m sure the discussion will be rewarding!
Witches, Zombies, and ... Vampire Potatoes?
Working with multiple genres is always fun. Karma Tandin is a delightful narrator – funny, snarky and often confused. This makes Karma Meets a Zombie the perfect story to discuss ideas like comic relief, building suspense and story structure. What standard non-human characters do we use? And how can we add a tiny twist to a standard character (like a vampire) to create surprise and humour?
Writing Horror
I was associated with the British Council’s reading challenge for several years, and Creepy House was one of the most popular themes amongst the participants. There’s something thrilling about being slightly afraid. From picture books like Book of Bhoots to middle-grade ones like A Place Called Perfect, children love to explore the darkness in tiny and not-so-tiny ways.
So, how do we write horror? I have a wonderful set of activities on writing stories full of suspense and I can’t wait to use them!
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