Fire: Tales of Elemental Spirits by Robin McKinley and Peter Dickinson YP FIC MCKINLEY

Fire is five stories about magical creatures born of fire and the people that encounter them. There is Phoenix, a story of an old man that finds the legendary fire bird in a small English forest and is changed in an extraordinary way. In Hellhound a fiery eyed dog from the pound is more than it seems. Fireworm tells of a prehistoric young man that must become one with the spirit world to fight his clan’s ultimate enemy. In Salamander Man a slave must become more than human to fight an invasion of evil wizards. The final tale is First Flight, the story of Ern, a boy that must guide a dragon home.

This is a great collection of stories for almost any fantasy fan. It has very realistic and modern settings in Phoenix and Hellhound and three very different magical settings in the other three tales. It was great to have such variety and I think it will appeal to a large range of fantasy readers. Dickinsion wrote Phoenix, Fireworm, and Salamander Man and of these I would say Fireworm is the best. The ancient world of primitive man is an excellent setting for fantasy because in that time what we see as myth and make believe was reality to people. My favorite of the collection however is McKinley’s Hell Hound. The main character Miri is an animal lover that has a creative mind and finds that her imagination is dead right when she calls her dog Flame a hell hound. The realistic setting and characters make the magical elements really believable and effective. Also check out Water: Tales of Elemental Spirits by the same authors in YP FIC MCKINLEY.

Geektastic: Stories from the Nerd Herd edited by Holly Black and Cecil Castellucci

Once a year during the month of July thousands of comic book nerds pounce on San Diego, CA to attend Comic-Con, or as Cecil Castellucci so lovingly calls it: “nerd prom.” A couple of years ago Castellucci and fellow young adult author, Holly Black, met at Comic-Con and got to talking about what would happen if a Jedi were to fall in love with a Klingon. For those of you not in the nerd-know, the intermingling of Star Wars and Star Trek fans in a “big no-no” in the geeky world of comic books and science fiction. Black and Castellucci likened it to a spacey version of Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet. The prospect of collaborating together to produce this story seemed like a geek’s dream, except the reality was no publishing company in their right mind would want to produce it. The authors felt this idea was too good to pass up, so they decided to ask a group of their favorite young adult authors, also known for their geekiness or geek characters, to contribute short stories about geekdom. The end result was Geektastic: stories from the nerd herd.

The anthology features Black and Castellucci’s story, “Once You’re a Jedi, You’re a Jedi all the Way” and others by writers such as, M.T. Anderson, David Levithan, Lisa Yee, Libba Bray, and John Green. Illustrations and mini-comics by Bryan Lee O’Malley, of Scott Pilgrim fame, and his wife, Hope Larson (Chiggers) provides transition between each short story. If you have a love of Star Trek, Star Wars, cosplay, and high school drama club there is something for you in this collection. Current geeks or those learning to embrace their inner geek will enjoy the humor of these stories and most likely see a little bit of themselves in this book.

This is the first collaboration between Black and Castellucci. For those who enjoy Geektastic, check out individual works by these authors. The following titles are available at the library:

Holly Black: The Good Neighbors, Ironside: a modern faery’s tale, Valiant: a modern tale of faerie, Arthur Spiderwick’s Field Guide to the Fantastical World Around You, and Tithe: a modern faerie tale

Cecil Castellucci: Jane’s in Love (graphic novel), Beige, The Plain Janes (graphic novel), The Queen of Cool, and Boy Proof