Pre-Teen/Teen

In Search of the Fog Zombie: A Mystery About Matter (Summer Camp Science Mysteries)

By: Lynda Beauregard
Publisher: Graphic Universe
Publication Date: March 2012
ISBN: 978-0761385448
Reviewed by: Deb Fowler
Review Date: March 2012

Angie and Alex Rayez's were excited as they approached Camp Dakota, but when they saw the camp was socked in with fog their eyes grew wide. They told their father it looked really scary, but when he said, "fog is just a cloud that is near the ground" and that it was "made up of small water droplets in the air, just like a cloud," they began to relax. When they arrived in the camp they were greeted by Counselor Kyle who introduced them to two brothers, Braelin and Rashawn. Braelin didn't waste any time showing off and before you know it he was demonstrating his egg trick. It was all about water density, but just to be annoying he just had to mention the Fog Zombie. WAAAAAH!

Rashawn quickly gave his younger brother a light rap upside the head for scaring the twins and told them there were "no such things as zombies." Ignoring his brother, Braelin told Jordan that the Fog Zombie was going to get him. Angie told Counselor Kyle she thought the story was made up, but he said there had to be some logical explanation for the moaning "zombie sounds" that were heard at night. There was rustling in the bushes and Jordan found a cryptic note. "Is the Dakota Zombie giving you the chills? The solid truth will soon flow your way." More notes began to appear. Was there really a Dakota Zombie and would it come that night to get them?

Everyone from the science detective, mystery buff, to the reluctant reader will enjoy tagging along with the campers at Camp Dakota as they try to figure out where the eerie sounds are coming from. The concept of matter and its forms (solid, liquid, or gas), as well as mass, are introduced into the mystery to explain unusual and sometimes creepy, spooky things happening at the camp. There are numerous, informative sidebars that add interesting science vignettes. For example, one says: "Molecules in matter move faster and spread out when they heat up. That makes the matter expand." In the back of the book are two experiments, "Cloud in a Jar," "Wire Stretch," a list of "Mysterious Words" and some additional tips that might have helped solve the mystery of who or what the Fog Zombie was.

Quill says: This is a fun, fascinating Fog Zombie mystery that will entrance the young reader.