Brilliant!
Little, Brown’s Fall 2009 line-up includes a collection of short stories edited by Holly Black and Cecil Castellucci, Geektastic: Stories from the Nerd Herd, and it’s freakin’ awesome.
Bringing together some great voices in YA lit: John Green, Cassandra Clare, M.T. Anderson, Scott Westerfeld, David Levithan, Barry Lyga, Garth Nix, Libba Bray and more, Black & Castellucci have created a smart, wry, funny and sometimes painful look at all things geek. Opening with a laugh-out-loud story by the editors about a hook up at a comicon gone wrong (Klingon and Jedi – no way!), through stories of geek education classes for cheerleaders, cosplayers and MMORPG enthusiasts meeting up in “real life”, and social outcasts, misfits, theatre geeks trying to figure out the rules of high school, these brilliantly crafted stories are tinged with the thoughtful, sometimes bittersweet, understanding of the harrowing passage through the teen & young adult years.
While some of the stories are better suited for older readers because of language and sexual content, all of them capture the authentic voices of their teen protagonists thanks to the skill of the talented writers Black & Catellucci have assembled. I wondered what, if any, direction the authors were given when asked to contribute – the range, breadth, and depth of their work speaks to so many aspects of the teen years that I can’t help but feel connected to every character in some way or another.
Geektastic proposes that maybe the geeky things we’re into have no redeeming social value, but they’re an interesting way to pass the time; and ultimately, we can only be so lucky as to find “home” and safety & acceptance, wherever that may be.
TNG forever!
- Posted by Cori