Zombie Makers: True Stories of Nature's Undead

by Rebecca L. Johnson

Overview

Are zombies real? As far as we know, dead people do not come back to life and start walking around, looking for trouble. But there are things that can take over the bodies and brains of innocent creatures, turning them into senseless slaves. Meet nature's zombie makers—including a fly-enslaving fungus, a suicide worm, and a cockroach-taming wasp—and their victims.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780761386339
Publisher:	Lerner Publishing Group
Publication date:	08/01/2012
Series:	Exceptional Science Titles for Intermediate Grades Series
Pages:	48
Product dimensions:	10.00(w) x 9.80(h) x 0.40(d)
Lexile:	800L (what's this?)
Age Range:	9 - 13 Years

About the Author

Rebecca L. Johnson writes award-winning nonfiction for children and young adults about scientific discoveries and the scientists who make them. She hopes her books will inspire new generations of scientists by introducing readers to some of the remarkable species with whom we share the planet. Learn more at www.rebeccajohnsonbooks.com.

Editorial Reviews

…creepy and fascinating…Johnson's book is the stuff of nightmares as well as scientific progress.
—Abby McGanney Nolan

The Washington Post

"Scientific in its approach, this slender book gives children a look at scientific research in real time, and also shows how little we truly know in a less-than-lovely field." —starred, School Library Journal

From the Publisher

Solid (sometimes writhing) proof that the scariest zombie flicks have nothing on Nature. To demonstrate that there are indeed real zombies--"closer than you think"--Johnson (Journey into the Deep, 2010; iPad app, 2011) introduces a select set of fungi, worms, viruses and wasps that invade the bodies and take over the brains of their victims. Enhanced by large and often deliciously disturbing color photos, her descriptions of each parasite's life cycle is both specific and astonishing; not only does the fungus O. unilateralis force a carpenter ant to clamp itself to a leaf (before sending a long reproductive stalk out of its head) for instance, it even somehow strengthens the ant's mouth muscles. The author tracks similarly focused physical and behavioral changes not just in insects, but in other creatures too, including rabies-infected mammals. Lest human readers feel left out of the picture, she mentions the protozoan T. gondii, which causes rats to engage in reckless behavior and also has infected up to a quarter of all the adults and teens in this country. In each chapter, Johnson reports back on conversations with scientists engaged in relevant research, and she closes with a quick look at telling signs in the fossil record. Science writing at its grossest and best, though as the title (not to mention the blood-spattered pages) warns, not for the squeamish. (author's note, glossary, notes, bibliography, further reading, index) (Nonfiction. 10-13)

Kirkus Reviews