Young readers captivated by Shan’s zombie apocalypse

Scores of young bookworms packed Cork City Library yesterday to hear international best-selling author Darren Shan read from his latest book.

Shan read from Zom-B Baby at the launch of the national Children’s Book Festival. The book is the fifth in the Limerick author’s Zom-B series, set to total 12 books.

The story revolves around a zombie apocalypse through the eyes of a racist teenager. Shan, real name Darren O’Shaughnessy, said in an interview with The Independent that the idea came in the aftermath of the 7/7 bombings in London.

“I began thinking about it not long after the 7/7 bombings. My flat was in the East End at that time. A friend of mine knew where the wife of one of the bombers lived, and he stormed over there, but she was gone. I asked, ‘What were you going to do?’ and he said he didn’t know, he just wanted to do something. I wanted to say to young readers that we might live in scary times, but that’s no reason to become racist,” he said.