J.J. Hart, Zombie Monkey Monster Jamboree

Zombie Monkey Monster Jamboree

J.J. Hart

Actionopolis, October 2006, $9.95, 160 pp.

ISBN: 1`933295086

The Basilisk Patrol of the Wild West Scouts are having an overnight with Patrol Leader Skeeter McGill, who wants everything to go perfectly. He studies up for the big day and then proceeds to lead the scouts through a part of the White Mountains in Arizona. The adult leaders get lost trying to find a shortcut in a heavy rain, and compound the problem by losing all the food.

When Skeeter calls a halt, they pitch camp as best they can, and they find a crate with a warning not to open it, but they do so anyway, and find a gold monkey with jewels for its eyes. Soon they are disturbed by noises, and when they go outside to check they see lots of zombie monkeys surrounding them. They chase them away, but the zombie monkeys head for the nearby town, so the scouts try to figure a way to get rid of them.

Rather than being scary, ZOMBIE MONKEY MONSTER JAMBOREE is a humorous horror tale that will have the readers laughing out loud. Skeeter is earnest in his desire to lead, and that includes taking care of the zombie monkey problem. One of the scouts "Gas" uses the bodily function he was named after to keep the monkey zombies away from his friends. This is a charming tale that elementary school readers will thoroughly enjoy.