Let me start out by saying, you’ll want to read the first two books in this series before picking up PASSING STRANGE.  If you don’t, you’ll be lost on the ins and outs of the plots and characters. You can find my reviews for the first two books below:

GENERATION DEAD #1
KISS OF LIFE #2

The author, Daniel Waters, takes a different approach with PASSING STRANGE.  The first two books focus on Phoebe and her struggles as she braves the world of high school in a world where some teens are coming back from the dead.  Her heart is pulled in two different directions – she is fascinated with Tommy, a new differently-biotic boy that enrolls at school, but at the same time, has growing feelings for Adam, her long-time friend and next-door neighbor. PASSING STRANGE tells the story of an important, but side character named Karen DeSonne.

Karen is one of the most advanced/high functioning zombies anyone has ever seen. She moves with grace, speaks without hitches, and is the envy of even the traditionally-biotic girls at school.  Since the events that took place in KISS OF LIFE that led to the laws preventing the differently-biotic from being in public without a legal guardian and attending school, Karen has been the only zombie out in the open. In fact, Karen isn’t just out in the open as a zombie, but she is “passing” as a traditionally-biotic teenager.  With the help of dyed hair and blue contacts, Karen got a job at the local mall and begins to use her ability to blend in to help the differently-biotic cause.

When Karen has the chance to infiltrate the enemy to gain information that could shine light on a conspiracy to make the zombies look guilty of crimes they didn’t commit, she doesn’t hesitate. She puts herself in many dangerous situations with one of the most active anti-zombie radicals to date. Knowing she can help allows her to keep meeting Pete – even when he wants to kiss her.

The reader learns a lot about Karen in this novel. Karen has always appeared happy-go-lucky in the previous books so it was interesting to find out she isn’t very happy.  She has a lot to be sad about and you’ll sympathize with her as she explains everything going on in her life and eventually reveals a huge secret.

I’ve loved every one of the GENERATION DEAD books and PASSING STRANGE is no different. It only took me a day to finish and I was extremely happy with the hopeful ending.  I can’t wait for the next installment to this wonderfully unique series.  Thanks, Dan! Keep up the good work.

You can follow the fight for zombie rights by reading Tommy’s blog.

Visit Daniel Water’s website.

You should read WAKE before you pick up FADE. You’ll understand the story much better.

My review may be a little vague, but I don’t want to give away any SPOILERS for WAKE.

Janie still has a difficult life. Her mother still drinks and hides in her bedroom to the extent that she doesn’t have any interest in what Janie does. Janie is the adult in house – making sure there are groceries in the house and taking care of the other day to day household chores.

The one bright spot in her life is Cabel. She depends on him to support her through the terrible side effects of the dreams – other peoples’ dreams that she is sucked into. On the bright side, Janie is learning how to control her dream experiences with unexpected help from Mrs. Stubin.

Janie has had Winter Break to relax, but now that school is starting again she’ll have to get involved more deeply than she ever has before. Her relationship with Cabel becomes strained, she finds herself in dangerous situations, and her body begins to suffer the effects of her dream catching. FADE is a suspenseful ride. Lisa McMann keeps you guessing from beginning to end and learning more about the process of dream catching adds a lot to the story.

The third book in the series is titled GONE and it is sure to be a winner based on WAKE and FADE. FADE will be released February of 2009.