Rot and Ruin by Jonathan Maberry

I loved this book and not because Jonathan wrote it and not because it's about Zombies and not because it's a coming-of-age story.
I loved it for all of the above and more.
This is a Zombie book with "heart". I know that sounds funny but it's true. Our hero, Benny, learns many life-lessons, mostly from his older brother Tom, but from some of the secondary characters as well, and even from the Zombies that stagger through the story.
When I first started reading this book, I compared it to The Hunger Games. I need to read the next two books in that trilogy; however, Rot and Ruin's future was more hopeful - mainly because of the central characters and the attitude toward Zombies.
Jonathan Maberry can take an almost-worn out theme- zombies in the aftermath of the apocalypse - and make it feel new.
Now, I'm waiting for the next one.