Nate and his friend Misty run away from home one day, but come back to find the place is infested with zombies! Seemingly the only surviving people in town, they try to hold off the zombie invasion as best they can, and eventually learn that lemon juice kills zombies. After rescuing Kali, the town nerd from being cornered by zombies, they team up to build a Mega Bomb that will blast the zombies with lemon juice and other acidic components to destroy them all.
This book contains examples of:
- Casual Danger Dialog: The story's light mood is in part due to the characters' inability to take their situation totally seriously, as evidenced by their constant light banter and jokes.
- First Person Snarker: Although not as snarky as some narrators out there, Nate's frequent jokes set the tone for an upbeat Zombie Apocalypse story.
- Heroic Sacrifice: There is one performed in this story, and it's permanent, too. Kali sacrifices himself to set off the Super Zombie Juice Mega Bomb after luring the zombies to him.
- Insufferable Genius: Nate perceives Kali this way, and Kali later makes a joke about it.Kali: "Sorry. I didn't mean to sound superior. It just came out that way because I am."
- Little Professor Dialog: Kali is 9 years old, but he doesn't act much like a kid, not just in terms of vocabulary but also his interests.
- Most Writers Are Adults: Nate is 12, but some of the jokes he makes in the narration sound more like adult humor, such as the joke about the term "zombie politician" being redundant.
- Narrative Profanity Filter: At one point, Kali lets loose what would be a profanity-filled tirade if this book allowed him to swear. But Nate, our narrator, indicates that the words used in the book may not have been the actual words Kali used in his complaint.Kali: "Holy cow, get the fudge out of here — shoot, get your rear going!"
- Sadistic Choice: Not intentional, as these are mindless zombies we're talking about, but when one zombie grabs Misty and another grabs Kali, Nate figures quickly that he can only save one. Of course, Misty is his friend and crush, and Kali is a little kid he doesn't know very well.
- Sesquipedalian Loquaciousness: Kali is 9 years old, but he must have memorized a thesaurus.
- Shown Their Work: Kali knows a lot about pH, acidity, and how much acid burns the body and therefore is dangerous to humans (as acid already burns zombies). Probably because the author knows, or researched it.
- Title Drop: A late chapter is called "Super Zombie Juice Mega Bomb", and Misty calls Nate and Kali's new invention for killing the zombies by that name, thus explaining the book and chapter's title.
- Totally Radical: The dialog is perhaps trying a little too hard to be "teen" and casual, with not-quite-common slang used all over the place.
- Zombie Apocalypse: The kid heroes leave town and come back to find that everyone who hasn't escaped has become a zombie - both the actual dead come to life, and their victims. The apocalypse in question, though, is localized to their town.
