Gravediggers: Mountain of Bones by Christopher Krovatin

Author:n Christopher Krovatin
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books
Date of publication: September 2012

Ian was the one who chased the majestic buck into the forest. Kendra and PJ followed him. They all hoped to return to the hiking trail before anyone noticed they were gone. However, the mountain had other plans for them: dark, sinister plans that only nightmares are made of.

The Goonies meets The Evil Dead in this series about three kids who become separated from their backpacking group in the Montana wilderness and discover they are stranded in the heart of zombie country.

Gravediggers: Mountain of Bones finds Ian, Kendra and PJ on a 6th grade nature trip with their class.  When they get off the trail, they soon find themselves lost and in a battle for their lives.  It seems there are zombies in the hills.  Yep, another book with zombies. So, as you know, I usually find them hit or miss. I actually really enjoyed this book.

The book was fast paced and kept me engaged.  The story alternated between the three kids' points of view.  I thought the format worked well, especially since the story progressed fluidly as each point of view changed.  It was nice to see the different kids and how they reacted to the situations.  It's a good book about friendship as well.  All three of the kids are very different from each other and aren't exactly friends in the beginning.  The experience soon makes them realize what true friendship is all about.

Since it is a book with zombies, there is a bit of gore.  It was also pretty scary in a few places.  It's probably a level up from the Goosebumps series in scare factor.  The story was very clean and I think that it could be fine for mature sixth graders and up.  I look forward to reading the next book, Gravedigger: Terror Cove  to see how Ian, Kendra and PJ make out as Gravediggers.