Geektastic: Stories from the Nerd Herd    edited by Holly Black & Cecil Castellucci Order:  USA  Can Little, Brown & Co., 2009 (2009) Hardcover, e-Book Read an Excerpt     Reviewed by Ricki Marking-Camuto Geektastic: Stories from the Nerd Herd is the perfect book for anyone who is or was a geek in high school. This collection - edited by Holly Black and Cecil Castellucci (who also contributed one of the funniest stories in the book, Once You're a Jedi, You're a Jedi All the Way), highlights the many different forms of geekdom through both short stories and one-page gag comics. All of the stories in Geektastic are great, fun reads, but a few stand out above the rest. Quiz Bowl Antichrist by David Levithan is perhaps the most realistic. While the protagonist, Alec, is a literature nerd and crushing on one of the other guys on the Quiz Bowl team, he is the type of guy you would find in any school and be able to start at least an acquaintanceship with, which makes it very easy to relate to him. Another stand out read is The Quiet Knight by Garth Nix, for its storyline. This tale of a quiet loner is one of growth and discovery, with a strong ending. While all the stories focus on geeks (or nerds, in some cases), they are all as different as the authors writing them. Within Geektastic, you will find sci-fi geeks, fantasy geeks, RPG geeks, MMORPG geeks, literature geeks, and plenty of other social outcasts. At the end of each story is a short bio on the author, explaining why he or she is a self-professed geek - which helps to show that even though famous, authors were once awkward youths, too. Note: Opinions expressed in reviews and articles on this site are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of BookLoons. Find more Teens books on our Shelves or in our book Reviews