Book Review:Geektastic Edited by Holly Black and Cecil Castellucci

Acclaimed authors Holly Black (Ironside)and Cecil Castellucci (Boy Proof) have united in geekdom to edit short stories from some of the best selling and most promising geeks in young adult literature: M.T. Anderson, Libba Bray, Cassandra Clare, John Green, Tracy Lynn, Cynthia and Greg Leitich Smith, David Levithan, Kelly Link, Barry Lyga, Wendy Mass, Garth Nix, Scott Westerfield, Lisa Yee, and Sara Zarr.

With illustrated interstitials from comic book artists Hope Larson and Bryan Lee O'Malley, Geektastic covers all things geeky, from Klingons and Jedi Knights to fan fiction, theater geeks, and cosplayers. Whether you're a former, current, or future geek, or if you just want to get in touch with your inner geek, Geektastic will help you get your geek on! (From Goodreads)

I'm going to attempt to keep this review short and to the point. As a nerd girl, I grabbed this when I saw it at my local library. I knew that I'd enjoy most of the short stories within the book because the collection of authors was great, and I understood majority of the references (I'd say about 90%).

Perhaps my favorite part of the book were the comics that came after each short story. Illustrated by Bryan Lee O'Malley (of Scott Pilgrim), and Hope Larson, each had me laughing. I have to say that the first short story in the book was my favorite, probably because the entire anthology was developed around it. Written by Black and Castellucci, it was a hilarious look at the shenanigans of cons, and what happens when fandoms attack. I also really enjoyed Nix's story, The Quiet Knight, and wish it had been longer!

There were a couple stories that didn't hold my interest at all. I didn't feel bad skimming through them, which is why the book didn't get a higher rating. It wasn't that I didn't understand the references, it was just that they didn't have characters I found interesting. I've found that I need compelling characters to make me enjoy a short story.

So, if you're a bit of a nerd (and proud of it), this one is worth a read. Plus, I loved all of the references to Doctor Who!

Geektastic
Edited by Holly Black and Cecil Castellucci
Published by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
403 Pages
Rating: C