Date Published: 09-15-2026
Publisher: Oculus Print
ZOMBIE ZOO is Book 1 in a five-book middle grade adventure series for readers ages 8-13, blending paranormal mystery, zombies, unlikely friendship, and STEAM-powered problem-solving.
To find a cure, Felix must team up with Ninja, a shadow-dwelling orphan who trusts her instincts and never backs down. Intense and razor-sharp, she notices what others overlook and lives up to her name as the island's most mysterious sleuth. With their eccentric mentor Doc Brunne compromised and the town's water supply contaminated by a glowing bioluminescent substance, the two mismatched investigators must combine scientific observation with sharp intuition to stop the outbreak before their island home is devoured.
Featuring diverse protagonists, quirky humor, spooky-but-fun scares, and strong female and male leads. ZOMBIE ZOO is ideal for reluctant readers and fans of Max Brallier's The Last Kids on Earth, B.B. Alston's Amari and the Night Brothers, and Goosebumps. Comprehensive educator resources-including discussion guides, vocabulary lists, STEAM extension activities, and printable maps-support classroom use, library programming, book clubs, and make this title ideal for cross-curricular lessons bridging ELA, STEAM, and SEL.
What is the hardest part of writing your books?
Every writer has their own set of challenges, and mine is Act Two. Act One is easier to nail down, because it’s the promise, the hook, the setup that grabs the reader’s attention. And by the time I get to Act Three, the payoff is clear. But Act Two is a different beast entirely. It’s the heart of the story, the most complex and demanding part. I find that I often need to come at it from both ends, writing forward from the Act One, then turn backward from the Act Three, hoping to meet somewhere in the middle.
The hardest part about Act Two is that it’s the meat of the story and often the most work. It’s where the problem-solving happens, while analyzing its structure. Sometimes, I’ll get stuck, or feel confused, and often slightly grumpy during this phase. I always push through, even on the days when it feels insurmountable—I find a way to make it work. And when I hit these bumps, I always remind myself that it always works out in the end, and I need to be kind to myself during the process.
How did you start your writing career?
Back in grade school, I lived for the Scholastic book order forms. By fourth grade, I was trying to make my own little newspaper and charging my classmates a dime for each issue. I got in trouble for the money exchanging hands, so I continued to give them away for free. Looking back, that was probably the first sign storytelling was going to stick.
I've always been a daydreamer. The thing is, no one ever knew what I was dreaming up, largely because no one asked. I am a visual person first and foremost. Everything I imagine, I see in my mind’s eye. As a kid of the '80s, I was raised on the magic of Spielberg and Star Wars. I'm a certified Star Wars nerd and love movies like Indiana Jones, The Goonies, and E.T. — but as I was always on the lookout for adventures featuring heroines, these were few and far between. So I made up my own, in my head at first, creating stories with female leads to fill the gaps. That instinct of putting females at the center of the adventure never left me, and it still drives my writing today. All my stories start and usually finish in my head, well before pen hits paper. This is how I write.
I've always been interested in people and their stories, and it became the lens I used to move through life. In fact, it's what led me to earn graduate degrees in psychology. Human behavior fascinates me—and eventually, I realized fiction was where it all came together: the daydreams, the adventure, the heroines, and the deep dive into what makes people tick. Everything starts with a story, and most people have one. But I believe that in order to become a writer, you must first be a storyteller.
Tell us about your next release:
Books 2 and 3 are drafted and ready for developmental edits. The rest of the five-book arc is outlined and waiting in the wings.
Book 2 takes Felix and Ninja out of Spinachi and pulls them to the northeast of Tub into the territory of Bloomnesia—a harbor town where our duo is trying to track down the green-goo-filled barrels from Book 1 and someone called Manifest Max. Expect new characters, one returning face I won't spoil it here, and a mystery that ramps up quickly. You'll learn more about the mysterious island of Tub as the stakes climb higher.
Of course, the quirky humor is still there. There are new areas of science to explore, more maps, and plenty of Ninja's sleuthing.
I've got working titles for both Book 2 and Book 3—both make me laugh. But I'll keep those tucked away for now. We are also working on the designing the cover as I type.
One last thing — if you know a young reader (or a grown-up one) who loves hunting for tiny treasures inside a story, the kind of details most people miss, they'd have a lot of fun in Tub. I'd love to hear what they find. Readers can join the newsletter, send in questions, or share artwork — we're building a corner of the website just for that.
About the Author
Instagram: @byMelanieAbed
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