Q&A with Melanie Abed

  

 

 

 

Melanie Abed is the author of the new middle grade novel Zombie Zoo, the first in a new series.  

 

Q: What inspired you to write Zombie Zoo, and how did you create your characters Felix and Ninja?

 

A: Felix Fizzystyxx started talking to me before I ever put a word down. He was already fully formed — lanky, curious, always cataloging, always taking notes.

 

He crouched in a pantry in the back of my mind for weeks before I finally sat down to write him onto the page. He built his tree fort. He stitched his field journal together by hand. It was his idea to ask for Cookie's leftover spinach water to dye his vest green.

 

And then, almost as if she'd been waiting for the right moment, Ninja walked into the story.

 

Here's what most readers won't realize yet: Ninja was already a character I'd written about — elsewhere, in another version of a much bigger universe I've been quietly building for years.

 

In Zombie Zoo, she's younger. She's still herself, but earlier in her story. And once she showed up in that hallway and started giving Felix tips he didn't ask for, I couldn't stop writing.

 

They were talking inside my head all day. Eventually I just had to start writing it down.

 

Q: How would you describe the dynamic between them?

 

A: Here's something I don't say out loud often: Felix and Ninja are both parts of me.

 

Felix is the observer — the cataloger, the pattern-noticer, the kid who trusts data because data doesn't lie. Ninja is the instinct — the sharp read of a room, the trust-your-gut fierce independence, the one-liner that lands before you knew a joke was coming.

 

And that's exactly why they work. Felix wants to measure the puzzle; Ninja wants to leap into it. She pushes him past the edge of his comfort zone, out of the tree fort and into the mess. He keeps her from charging in blind. She gives him tips he never asked for; he double-checks every one of them. They frustrate each other constantly, and they're better together than either would ever admit.

 

(My husband swears there's a little Felix in him too. And Doc Brunne is the wacky-professor mentor I've loved since I was a kid — I couldn't resist giving Felix and Ninja someone brilliant and slightly unhinged to look up to.)

 

Q: Did you know how the novel would end before you started writing it, or did you make many changes along the way?

 

A: I know how the series ends: Book 5, and every book in between. The whole arc is mapped, even the parts I haven't drafted yet.

 

That doesn't mean the road to Zombie Zoo was a straight line. There were several versions of this book, going all the way back to 2017. I actually wrote the first draft in two weeks, in a fast, feverish sprint — and then it sat on a shelf. For years.

 

The version you're holding today looks very different from that first draft. It went through evolutions, edits, rethinks, and quiet revisions while I built out the larger universe around it. But the destination? The destination has always been the same.

 

That's the funny thing about knowing where a series is headed. It gives you the freedom to let the individual books breathe — to let them become the best version of themselves without losing the thread that ties them all together.

 

Q: What do you hope readers take away from the book?

 

A: Honestly? First and foremost, I hope kids just have a lot of fun. 

 

Then I hope they start sleuthing — looking at the world the way Felix does, questioning the way Ninja does. I hope they notice things they didn't notice before.

 

And then I hope they go outside. Head to a library. Pick up books on maps and field guides. Look into Ninja's kind of quiet, observational spycraft. Zombie Zoo isn't trying to teach anyone anything on the surface. But if it sparks a kid to go learn something on their own? That's the whole ballgame.

 

Q: As you noted, this is the first in a series--can you tell us what's next?

 

A: Books 2 and 3 are already fully drafted — I just need to dive into developmental edits. The rest of the series is outlined and waiting.

 

Book 2 opens in the Tub territory of Bloom, specifically the harbor town of Bloomnesia. Felix and Ninja are off to investigate the barrels and a mysterious figure named Manifest Max. You'll meet new characters, see an old one (I won't say who), and the mystery escalates fast into a brand-new adventure with a whole new set of puzzles.

 

The quirky humor is still there. So are the maps. So is the slow, careful reveal of what's really going on underneath all of this.

 

I've got working titles for both Book 2 and Book 3. But I'll keep those tucked away for now.

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

A: There's one more layer tucked into this world that I want to mention. 

 

Over the years, I've been lucky enough to work alongside some truly treasured friends — people who shaped me, made me laugh, and stayed with me long after our paths diverged.

 

Every so often, one of them slips into the story. A scrambled name. A gesture. A tiny detail only they (or someone who knew them) would recognize.

 

These are always positive. Always affectionate. Little winks and Easter eggs woven into the fabric of Tub. Some of these friends are still with me. Some are not. Either way, I like knowing they're there — quietly present in a world I love, honored in a way that feels right.

 

If you ever read something in Zombie Zoo and think, huh, that felt very specific — there's a chance you just met one of them.

 

I post on Instagram @bymelanieabed, but here's the real tip: sign up for my newsletter. That's where I share stories from the Tub Guardians — tales that took place before Felix and Ninja ever set foot in the hallway with a puddle of green goo. If you like secrets — and let's be honest, who doesn't? — you'll learn a lot before anyone else.

 

We also have activity pages on the website melanieabed.com and educator guides for teachers, homeschoolers, and librarians. We're always working on more, because we love the community of future sleuths who are showing up for this story.

 

Felix and Ninja are just getting started. Come along for the ride.

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb. This Q&A was conducted in partnership with The Children's Book Review. And there's a contest: Ten lucky readers will each win a signed paperback copy of Zombie Zoo. One grand prize winner will receive an epic swag haul: a signed hardcover copy, bookmark, postcard, sticker sheet, Tub Explorer Pin, a sample of Tub's Green Goo, and a Make Your Own Glow-in-the-Dark Green Goo Kit.