For readers who like thrills with their laughs, Case File 13 is a satisfying new series that blends irreverent humor, page-turning adventure, a mysterious narrator, and the kind of authentic characters that will leave young readers convinced this story is about their own best friends.

Case File 13: Zombie Kid follows three monster-obsessed friends who must solve fiendishly funny mysteries in their creepy hometown. Nick, Carter, and Angelo are obsessed with all things monster. And every Halloween they get to show off their monster-knowledge with elaborate homemade costumes. But this year, a surprise trip to the house of an aunt who may have been a voodoo queen throws a major wrench into the boys' Halloween plans and lands Nick with a cursed amulet that turns him into a real, live (well, undead) zombie.

To Nick and his friends, this is . . . awesome At first. Then the whole zombie thing starts to get a little out of hand (literally), and the boys have to go on a chilling adventure to reverse the curse. One that involves a talking cat, a skeleton who likes candy corn, and even the dreaded Zombie King himself.

Twelve-year-old Tad is a blogger with a plan, in the book Jon Stewart calls "hilarious to anyone who ever went through, is currently in, might go to, or flunked out of middle school."

Tad has an agenda: Survive seventh grade. He also wants to: grow a mustache, get girls to notice him, and do a kickflip on his skateboard. But those are not the main reasons he started a blog. Tad just has a lot of important thoughts he wants to share with the world, like: Here is the first thing I have learned about having a dog in your house: Don't feed them nachos. Not ever.

This highly illustrated and hilarious book is by the Emmy(R) Award-winning former head writer of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, and is based on a column in MAD Magazine. Through a series of daily entries, readers are treated to a year in Tad's blog that will leave them in stitches.

MAD Magazine and all related characters and elements are trademarks of and (c) E.C. Publications. (s14)