The Girl With All The Gifts

What’s it about? This is a post-apocalyptic zombie story with 10 year-old Melanie at the heart of the story.  Melanie must be bound to her chair before being transported to her classroom every morning.  Once there she studies with a group of young people that are all strapped into their chairs in the same way.  At first we are not sure why, and either is Melanie, but as the story progresses we learn more and more about both Melanie and those who care for her.What did I think? I found this book on Powell’s recommended reading wall.  I had no idea it was a post-apocalyptic zombie story or I probably would have put it back.  However, once I started I kept on reading.  I came to think of it as a thriller in a different setting. Should you read it? So zombies are definitely not my thing!!! However this book does a decent job of exploring some other topics as well. It sometimes pigeon holes characters as all good or all evil, but it is a pretty good story and the pages do turn.  After finishing the book I found out that it is scheduled to be released as a movie later this month.  What timing!  I am sure this would be a great pick for anyone who likes post-apocalyptic stories, and for those of us who don’t usually read about zombies it is a nice segway into a new genre. Quote- “Gallagher nods slowly, like non of this is news to him.  But the truth is, this vanished world is something he’s profoundly ignorant of, and barely thinks about.  A child of the Breakdown, he was a lot less interested in tales of the glorious past than in how he could cadge a bit of someone else’s bread ration.  He uses the artifacts of the past all the time, obviously.  His gun and knife were made back then.  So were the base’s buildings, and the fence, and most of the furniture.  The Humvee.  The radio.  The fridge in the rec room.  Gallagher is a squatter in the ruins of empire, but he doesn’t interrogate the ruins any more than you’d interrogate the meat you eat to try to guess what animal it came from.  Most of the time it’s better not the know.”