Nathan Abercrombie, accidental zombie

Tired of continually having his feelings hurt by popular students and bullies, fifth-grader Nathan agrees to try an experimental formula, Hurt-Be-Gone, and becomes a half-dead zombie, a condition which, he soon discovers, has some real advantages.

Nathan Abercrombie is just getting started with his training for secret organization BUM, the Bureau of Useful Misadventures when greasy green globs of goop strat oozing from every faucet in town. BUM asks Nathan to investigate. Things get worse when Nathan's mother makes him a doctor's apppointment. His doctor is sure to noitice that Nathan is dead!

When the head of the Bureau of Useful Misadventures (or BUM) discovers that an evil organization is using the Student Mind and Body competition to recruit agents, he asks Nathan to enter the competition, but things go terribly wrong when Nathan's nemesis starts to notice some odd things about him, and Nathan fears his zombie identity will be exposed.