1. Zomboy Inquiry
By: Chelsea Fiddler

2. Main Question
What would the world be like if there was no diversity?

3. Plot
Imre moves to a new town and goes to a regular class in an ordinary school.
Bob’s best friend Evil-O welcomes him soon to realize he’s not who she thought he was.
Everyone starts fighting over the “Z” word and is oblivious to everything else happening.
In a short amount of time, the new kid is now being followed by news reporters, for other reasons than just is sister.

4. Character - Bob Protagonist
Bob is a dynamic character because as the book goes on he changes the way he looks at things and starts to become friends with the one person he didn't like. Over the coarse of the book he goes through a roller coaster of events to help him understand the true reason why he didn't like Imre.
Bob is the type of character that is common to see with teenagers because there are many people tend to judge events and people right away before experiencing them or getting to know them and once they do they tent to change their mind, and the people that stick with their initial thought are helping to shape the diversity in our world by creating different opinions.

5. Character - Imre Antagonist
Imre is a mix of stock & static because he is a zombie so the author gives him zombie like traits, but he also doesn't change as the story goes on its only his presence and him being friends with Evil-O that gave him the title on. antagonist.
Relating Imre to a school, he would be the new kid that comes in and doesn't change who they are. These kinds of people are common to see but tend to change themselves based on the new friends that they have made, to impress or prove themselves to new people.

6. Theme
Don’t judge a book by its cover. In this book they have a new student come to their school and they all immediately start to pick him because he is a zombie. Without even getting to know Imre they all automatically assume he’s not the kind of person to be friend with. As the book goes on you get to know the real Imre and things start to change.
Acceptance. Accepting people for who they are and not trying to hurt or tear then down emotionally because they aren’t “normal”. This is also known as bullying or being racist in some cases.

7. Conflict Person vs Person & Person vs Self
The conflict in this book is between two of the main characters Bob and Imre.
Bob’s best friend at school is Evil-O but that all changes once Imre steppes into the picture and all of the sudden Bob has lost his best friend.
Bob really didn't’t like this new kid Imre and it was starting to take a toll on his and Evil-O’s friendship.
This conflict is more of a jealousy conflict since in the end they become friends. There are times when you start to notice all the little things Bob is doing that is actually very hurtful towards people and are bigger than just not liking someone

8. Point of view This book is written in Bob’s point of view
First Person, Limited Omniscient
The book is written about his life and how things change when a new kid arrives in town and all about the things he faces and does to try and get rid of him, only to realize he was hating him based off of his feelings.

9. Connections
Since this book if a fiction connecting with the characters themselves is a bit more difficult but you are still able to connect with the situations that happen.
I was able to connect to how Evil-O took the time to get to know Imre before she made any judgements, whereas Bob immediately didn't like him. I always like to try and give people the benefit of the doubt and get to know them myself and not just off of what people have said.
I am also able to connect to how one person can have an impact on your life for the better or for the worst. At a young age its scary to let people into your life because of how easy it is the change things, but I think that with experience sometimes those changes are beneficial and help you to grow and learn about yourself as a person.

10. Significance
For a fiction book written about a zombie, there is a strong meaning behind it that is important to have a good understanding about
I like to connect this book to the movie to The Grinch because it has a similar meaning. The Grinch was never liked by many people because he was different and wasn't “ordinary”, this is the same as the book ZomBoy. Imre is not your ordinary boy and gets picked on by many because of it and as the book goes on they grow to like him and become friends just like the do in The Grinch.
Books and movies like this are trying to prove that everyone is different and nobody should be picked on because of that. If we lived in a world where there was no diversity you would never be able to learn all the interesting things about people.

11. Research/Findings
Over 3.2 million students are victims of bullying every year
1 in 4 teachers see nothing wrong with bullying and will only step in 4% of the time
People usually use their own culture as a standard to judge other cultures
Cultural diversity is important because our country, workplaces, and schools increasingly consist of various cultural, racial, and ethnic groups
Helps us recognize and respect “ways of being” that aren’t our own

12. Quotes
“It’s easy to judge. It’s more difficult to understand. Understanding requires compassion, patience, and willingness to believe that good hearts sometimes choose poor methods. Through judging, we separate. Through understanding, we grow” –Anonymous
The challenge of living, and habit of giving, and the need for forgiving, living with the unliving. The living are leaving, unjust are deceiving, and plots they are weaving, while justice is grieving, for lack of believing. –Mrs. Stinson (book character)
Both quotes talk a lot about how the character in the book feel and explain the situation that is happening.

13. Analysis
The book ZomBoy isn't just a book with zombies, its much more than that with a strong topic of bullying and acceptance as the foundation. There are parts of this book that make you reflect on your own life and how you would feel if you were in the main characters shoes. With a question like “What would the world be like with no diversity?” I think it is answered. This world would be nothing but a land with people all the same and never exploring what is really out there, there is always the other side that would be arguing the fact that there would be no bullying since everyone was “the same”. I believe that if a person really wants to bully someone it is going to happen and the best way to prevent it is to talk about it, and not just saying it’s a bad thing to do but really explain. A world with no diversity would mean some things we have today would never have been created, we need to start accepting others because its what has helped us grow as an economy.

14. Life-long Lover of Literature
This book even though it is a fiction that has zombies in it, it still has a strong meaning that is powerful for the younger age groups.
Growing up we are always told to love everyone for who they are and I believe you should. The biggest problem kids face while growing up is bullying and its not something that kids would want to read a book about, they always go for the violence books with super hero's and sward fights. This is why authors hide it within the novel so you don’t take away form that action but you still get a strong meaning in a book that puts you into the characters shows.
It’s books like this that can impact young readers but not make them lose intrest

15. Conclusion
In conclusion the book is an interesting book with a great meaning, the characters that the author decided to create are ones that are realistic in our everyday lives. People like Imre are people we see a lot, they aren't exactly zombies but they have the same traits. This book is added to many others of its kind showing young people its better to take the time to understand then to never take the time at all, because friendship is very important and it should matter the background because we are all part of this multicultural place we call home.

16. Bibliography
“11 Facts About Bullying.” DoSomething.org | Volunteer for Social Change,
“What is Cultural Diversity?” Kaplan University,