I know we aren't supposed to pay attention to reviews, but it's still a little nerve-wracking waiting for the first one to come out. (And I admit - I TOTALLY pay attention to reviews.)

This one came out with perfect timing, too, because I've been having one of those writer freakouts ("I'll never write anything else! The first books were a fluke! How can I make it through these revisions?!") Nothing like soothing a freakout with a lovely review.

Here it is, from Booklist today (yay!):

Brains for Lunch: A Zombie Novel in Haiku?!.

Holt, K. A. (Author) , Wilson, Gahan (Illustrator)

Aug 2010. 96 p. Roaring Brook/Neal Porter, hardcover, $16.99. (9781596436299).

How many stories feature a middle school with a student body composed of zombies, monsters, and regular kids, and how often are such stories told through a series of nearly 100 haiku poems? Loeb, a zombie, is the main character, and he manages to win a poetry competition, develop a crush on the school librarian, and wind up with a regular-kid girlfriend, all despite his taste for human brains. Teachers preparing to introduce their classes to haiku are bound to welcome this outrageous effort. Let’s face it: many kids encountering haiku for the first time aren’t enthralled by descriptions of water droplets on lotus flowers, but lines such as “Ivy tendrils fall / Dark loops splayed across my arm / Hair, not intestines” may pique their interest. Adding loads of zing are the drawings by cartoonist Wilson, the perfect illustrator for a story featuring zombies. A funny, irreverent, and unconventional verse offering that’s sure to find wide curricular appeal.                   

— Todd Morning