Review: I Woke Up Dead at the Mall

I Woke Up Dead at the Mall by Judy Sheehan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I needed a book to review and quick and remembered the title, I WOKE UP DEAD AT THE MALL, a title that startles you with a laugh. I opened up the sample chapters—and that first page took hold of me. Judy Sheehan’s voice is immediate and so funny!

Sixteen-year-old, Sarah, wakes up dead at the Mall of America. It’s in Minnesota! Still wearing the mango chiffon bridesmaid gown and murdered with no idea how or who would have killed her. It’s not as if she had a trail of enemy’s. She kept to herself and didn’t make too many waves. It’s been this way since her mother died years ago. Things haven’t been the same. Now it’s just her dad and his new girlfriend, Karen, a godsend, she’s helped Sarah and her dad reconnect.

But now, Sarah walks among the living, busy doing living people things. Mixed among the living are the walking dead. The walking dead move silently through the crowds unseen because they haven’t moved on. They’re still attached to the world. Sarah will be too if she can’t let go. Dissolve into ash, and never, ever return to Earth.

While at the mall, which is a sort of wait station, Sarah meets a couple other teens that were murdered and also last lived in New York City. We meet Bertha, the team organizer. Head honcho. She shows the teens the ropes. Each has quite a story of how they came to be there. There’s Sassy Lacey, Ancient Alice, Happy Harry (once cancer-stricken), and Nick, whose mind was “so different and intriguing”—and cute! They have some fun running around the mall (reminding me of Dawn of the Dead).

Before they move on, the teens must return to Earth and watch their funerals. This is supposed to help them let go of this world. Sarah uses her funeral to figure out who killed her. But Earth life still haunts Sarah. Her long-dead mother is visiting her dreams (the dead don’t dream) and neither knows why. She has unfinished business back on Earth. Will her new friends help?

Such a fun read. That last chapter made me gasp! I had chills and tears. I think teens (12-17) are going to gobble this up. The author has had theater training and you can feel this throughout the book. Very entertaining. Bravo!


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