The Inevitability of Zombie Cows

The Ironic Cherry... reads...

My most recent hero is Paolo Bacigalupi.  In January I wrote a review of his newest book, The Doubt Factory, which took on in no uncertain terms the corporate product defense industry, those guys who brought us decades of bought scientists explaining why smoking was not hazardous to our health.  Okay, it wasn't really a review so much as me telling you you have to buy a copy for every young adult you know, and read it yourself before you gift-wrap it.

Well, the good news is, there is a whole backlog of books by this author that I haven't read yet.  And I am on it.

The Doubt Factory is a young adult novel written primarily for high school aged teens.  Zombie Baseball Beatdown is decidedly directed toward middle schoolers.  While there is nary a girl in this story, I am going to say that girls I know wouldn't want to miss it.

Bacigalupi doesn't just get the voice of the characters, adults as well as the kids, he manages to tell a truly comic tale with major serious topics.

The main character is an American of Bengali and German descent, with one best friend a Mexican with undocumented immigrant parents, and another best friend with an alcoholic dad.  The main industry in town is the cattle processing plant, the creepy and oxymoronic "Milrow Meat Solutions."  Foul smells and secrecy, rumors of new types of drugs tested on cattle to fatten them up, and the cover-up that involves deporting attempted whistle-blowers whirl around the lives of the kids who are just trying to play baseball and stay out of the way of the town bullies.

The only place that this plot can logically go is:  zombie cows.

With one hysterical scene after another, Bacigalupi doesn't fail to make the allegory entertaining, but very real.  The USDA and the FDA look the other way, and the sleazy corporate lawyers take care of any annoying problems with the help of the many "farm protection laws" throughout the country.  We know all about the mysterious foodborne illnesses that have become a way of life, and "pink slime" is still around.  So what's not to believe about zombie cows?   

It's a quick and fun read, so after you buy a copy for all the middle schoolers in your life, be sure to give it a read before you wrap it up.
   

The Ironic Cherry... Reads

I can't believe he wrote this....

The Doubt Factory by Paolo Bacigalupi is a young adult book.  Everyone should read it.  Young adults won't be able to put it down, but neither will you.  Not only does the book have rebellion and romance, excitement and suspense, it is a political book.  The plot revolves around the powerful, shadowy world of corporate product defense, and from the very personal viewpoint of the teenage daughter of the company's president.

As I read, I waited with bated breath.  No, not for the fast-paced plot twists, although they were there.  I waited for the author to back down, to sell out, to find the squishy, happy, compromise ending.  That didn't happen.  This is a book written by an activist, writing about the horrific effects of those public relations and legal defense specialists on any attempt to shine light on bad products.  The whole history of this industry, from tobacco to attacks on the EPA to defense of dangerous drugs, is described in a very vital way.

Just as I can't believe Bacigalupi wrote this, and that Little, Brown published it, I can't believe it is on our library's shelves.  The author is a National Book Award finalist, which lends legitimacy and authority, making it the rare book for young adults that speaks the truth about the world they are coming up in, the world of the Koch brothers and the pharmaceutical giants.

Buy it or check it out and by all means, read it yourself, and pass it on to any and every young adult you know.