Diary of a Minecraft zombie series by Zack Zombie

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Scholastic, 2016.
A scare of a dare. ISBN 9781943330140
Bullies and buddies. ISBN 9781943330140
(Age: 7-9) Another fan fiction series recorded in the ever-popular diary style format made famous by Jeff Kinney's Wimpy kid. These books are simplistic, easy to read without a depth of plot and character development, junior chapter books for the gaming enthusiast. Twelve-year-old Zack a Minecraft zombie has penned A scare of a dare. He loves scaring people in the village, using lessons taught at Scare School. Zack experiences a range of unfortunate incidents, and on Thursday he stays home from school after losing a body part - his legs. Passing notes in class, the problems of zombie kissing - no lips, and camping at Swamp Biome are events recorded in Zack's diary. This book includes pixelated characters and scenes from the Minecraft game.
Bullies and buddies is the second junior novel in the Diary of a Minecraft zombie series. At a disastrous party at Steve's place, Jack Zombie and his friends Skelee, Creepy and Slimey are attacked by the villagers. Steve is sorry for his friends' injuries so he lends Zack a special video game all about plants and zombies. Zack invites his schoolmates and friends over for a special evening of game playing and cake. Twentyfive kids are truly horrified as plants eat zombies, are run over by lawnmowers or blown to pieces.
Zack's home life is interesting: he wants to be infested by lice like his annoying little brother, his basement is filled with spare zombie parts and pimples are an important facial feature. At school, Mutant the bully is threatening the other kids: he teams up with Mike Magna and targets Zack at dodgeball. How to stand up to bullies is a common theme in this story; Zack searches for the answers from his parents and teacher. The journey for Zack involves mutant rabbits, a visit to the Nuclear Waste Plant where his parents work and wise advice from Old Mr Jenkins. Jack Zombie learns to resolve his issues and gain a new friend. This second story has more narrative, the characters have developed and there is a message included.
The Diary of a Minecraft zombie series is suited to an emergent reader, a Minecraft fan who enjoys stories written about the familiar gaming characters.
Rhyllis Bignell