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