Geektastic: Stories From the Nerd Herd

geek : 1. a person often of intellectual bent who is disapproved of 2. a person who is so passionate about a given subject or subjects as to occasionally cause annoyance among others

geektastic : marked by fantastic geek qualities; a compliment of the highest regard

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

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!

I was in love with this book as soon as I pulled it out of the mailbox. Everything I saw at first glance was perfect, the title, the subtitle, and the cover art. I find it difficult to review a collection, because I want to talk about each story individually, but that would take seven million light years. So here are some of my favorites:

One of Us by Tracy Lynn
This was about a popular cheerleader desperately trying to connect with her jock-football-and-Star-Wars-obsessed boyfriend. So she turned to the expert geeks, and paid them to teach her how to be a geek. I found this absolutely hysterical. The whole plot was wonderful, and the individual geeks in it who each had different areas of expertise was genius.

The Stars at the Finish Line by Wendy Mass
I actually related well to this story. Two geniuses vied for the grades, the colleges, and ultimately, who got to be an astronaut. Mass portrayed the sense of competition among teens well, and how much pressure is on kids to do everything perfectly. I loved the constant rivalry between the two characters, and felt close to them even though I only had twenty or so pages to get to know them.

Freak the Geek by John Green
I'll admit it. I'm a HUGE John Green fan. I've read everything he's written, and I was astounded once again. Freak the Geek was a phrase used by popular kids to let geeks know they were about to get freaked. If you think about it, it's the dumbest thing ever, but so dumb, that it's hysterical. I actually laughed out loud when the two geeks pondered that question themselves. No wonder Green is amazing.

All in all, I wasn't disappointed, and loved it just as much as I thought I would. Hands down a 5!