What worked:
The grossness factor of the story will appeal to many middle-grade readers although it’s not for the general population. You can expect flaky flesh falling off bodies with fingers, arms, and teeth dropping at every turn. Frani’s father studies the decomposition of dead bodies so there are over two hundred corpses buried in the backyard of their home at the university. One of his assistants is studying the effect different clothing materials have on decomposition while another is studying the bugs that feed on the dead flesh. Many young readers like to read creepy stories so this book is up their alley, minus the fear factor.
A medical term is not presented to describe the “spider” inside Frani’s head but her mind tends to quickly get distracted by a chain of thoughts. It makes it difficult for her to stay focused and complete tasks and it’s sometimes challenging to answer questions. She’ll utter random words that seem to make no sense to others but her brain follows a path of connected ideas to come up with them. Frani is well aware of the “spider” and the problems it creates and her older sister doesn’t spare negative, hurtful comments. The combination of Frani’s anger and frustration at her brain and her sister’s cruel words results in Frani’s low self-esteem. Middle-graders often fear looking stupid in front of their peers so they’ll be able to make connections to Frani’s character.
The first living corpse Frani discovers becomes a supporting character she calls Mateo. She enlists the help of a new friend named Benji and he calls reanimated bodies DUDs, Definitely Undead Dudes. Frani and Benji’s first order of business is to figure out Mateo’s real identity since the DUD doesn’t have any specific memories of being alive. He comes across as a helpless victim as decomposition leads to bits of his body falling off. Mateo displays kindness toward his new friends and helps them with trying to locate and recapture the other DUDs. Readers will feel empathy toward Mateo and the others as Frani’s father tries to figure out a humane way to allow the DUDs to rest in peace.
What didn’t work as well:
Frani’s wandering thoughts make the first few chapters challenging to read. They set the stage for her major internal struggles but it’s hard to follow her thinking. However, the author is able to describe it less as the plot moves on so it’s easier to focus on the story itself.
The final verdict:
While this is a book about zombies, Mateo has the most emotional story that will capture reader’s minds and hearts. The author blends humor, nastiness, action, and mystery to create a very entertaining tale. Overall, the book won’t interest everyone but I recommend you give it a shot.

Frani, our main character has a lot of trouble focusing both at home and at school, and blames this on Aranita, a imaginary spider in her brain. Because of this, Frani doesn't have very many friends at school, but fortunately, she loves working with her dad, who is a professor at a Texas University. He works at the university body farm where he does research on decomposition of cadavers, and Frani works well with him without getting distracted.
Our story starts when another researcher begins working with them, and he has a son, Benji, and the two become fast friends, especially, after they discover a teen body has become reanimated, and this starts happening to other dead bodies. Frani and Benji, along with the reanimated teen (Santiago) work together to figure out how this is happening.

While I was completely grossed out by body parts falling off of Santiago, and maggots sounds being compared to a certain breakfast cereal, students will not, and will enjoy the adventure.

Other topics covered: ADHD, STEM, and missing BIPOC and the lack of coverage.

If I were not a teacher, I think I would be an anthropologist, but definitely NOT a forensic anthropologist thanks to Adrianna Cuevas and her creepy crawly middle grade novel The No-Brainer’s Guide to Decomposition.

Frani’s father runs the Central Texas University Forensic Research Lab which means her backyard is a BODY FARM - no thank you! Dr. Bernando Gonalez (aka Profe) and his team study how different materials react to the decomposition process, so Frani is no stranger to the decomposing bloated bodies filled with maggots and blowflies. Inside Frani’s brain is a spider named Arañita that jumps around her brainy bouncy house- a perfect analogy for her ADHD. There is serious trouble on the body farm and the college campus when it is discovered that DUDs (definitely undead dudes) are on the loose. Will Frani solve the mystery with her hyperfocus or will her inability to deal with all the distractions lead to utter (don’t say the Z word) chaos.

It’s a no-brainer! Kids will be grossed out and delighted by this fun romp of a mystery. Inspired by a real body farm at Texas State University, readers will root for Frani, a brilliant and empathetic budding scientist struggling to make peace with Arañita the spider (also known as ADHD). A great choice for kiddos who love STEM and creepy stories with heart.

Being an autopsy technician who works hands on with decomposing bodies everyday, this story was super cute for me! I’ve always been the gross bugs and guts girl my whole life. I can’t wait to buy the physical book when it comes out to add to my library. I read this book on NetGalley for a review. This will be so much fun for middle school/early high school age kiddos. I highly recommend reading this!

Once again, Adrianna Cuevas has knocked it out of the park with this deadly and delightful story! Fans of Adrianna Cuevas will not be disappointed. Only she can make squeamish, gross things truly appealing and put a hilarious spin to them. I loved that friendship knows no bounds, that loss is handled with care and made so relatable. I love getting inside the head of a Main Character with adhd. The adventure the MC and her friends go on to find the missing cadavers is engaging and like Jurassic Park, leaves you wondering, "Could this really happen?" Everyone should read this book and all her previous books as well. My middle grade heart can't wait for her next one!

Adrianna Cuevas does it again in the spooky middle grade novel. It had everything that I was hoping for from the description, it had a great overall feel to this book and had that horror element that I was looking for. I enjoyed the elements of the undead and thought it worked with this story. I'm glad I was able to read this and look forward to read more from Adrianna Cuevas.