Zombie Makers

Zombie Makers – True Stories of Nature’s Undead      By Rebecca L. Johnson    

Millbrook Press     2013

Once again, I can not emphasize enough the sheer number of fantastic science books that are written by women. This fact is often overlooked, yet it is well worth pointing out to students in order to counter gender stereotypes.

From the back cover:

“Are there …things… that can take over the bodies and brains of innocent creatures?

Turn them into senseless slaves?

Force them to create new zombies so the zombie makers can spead?

Absolutely.

And they are closer than you think.”

As you may well have surmised, the author has a flair for dramatic presentation.

She combines this talent with stories that are truly fascinating.

The first chapter is about a fungus that feeds on houseflies’ internal organs and tissues while keeping it alive. It then takes control of the fly’s body, and once it has produced enough spores, it manuvers the fly into the optimum position to release the spores. It then it destroys the rest of the fly’s organs and releases its spores in order to infect more flies.

Another chapter discusses a parasitic protozoa that spends part of its lifecycle in cats, and another part in rats. When it infects a rat, it alters the rat’s brain in order to make it lose its fear of cats. It also makes the rat attracted to the scent of cats.

The examples are always interesting, and they are replete with fascinating photos. My favorite shows a fungus stalk growing out of a dead carpenter ant’s head.

All too often, we see attractive books on that present the “gee whiz” factor well, but stop short on explaining the underlying science. These are potential missed opportunities to convert students’ passing interest in a subject into a lifelong relationship with science.

Fortunately, the author of this book follows the description of each zombie maker with an investigation of the science that is involved.

Highly recommended!