Geektastic: Stories from the Nerd Herd

I really enjoyed the diversity this anthology showed that isn't normally represented in “geekiness.” Not only is it nice to see, it's nice to be reminded.

Obv any short story anthology is going to have highs and lows, but overall I thought this was really strong. It's clear each author brought their own geeky passions to play in their particular stories, and it's usually cool to see authors writing about what they LOVE, even if I don't love it (eg Star Trek, astronomy, tabletop gaming). I tended to connect more with stories that overlapped with my own geeky sensibilities (eg Sara Zarr's theater geek story, DAVID LEVITHAN'S SCHOLASTIC BOWL STORY!!!!!!!!)

Other highlights for me... Tracy Lynn's story about a cheerleader getting “geek lessons” was really unexpectedly great (I felt like the concept could have easily been way cliche, but wasn't), and I loved the interstitial geektastic comics with text by Black & Castellucci and illustrated by Bryan Lee O'Malley & Hope Larson. Cute!!

But like seriously David Levithan wrote a short story about high school scholastic bowl so... infinite stars!!! OK fine, four. Overall a strong anthology for teen and adult geeks alike.