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Title: Geektastic: Stories from the Nerd Herd
Editor: Holly Black, Cecil Castellucci
Category: Fiction, Young Adult
Rating: 3/5
Why I Read It: Self-proclaimed geek, here. So after Abby, Liz, Nymeth, and Lenore talked up this book, how could I resist?

Summary: A collection of stories from YA authors celebrating geekdom in all its many forms—from roleplaying to Buffy to being the smartest kid in school.

Review: I recently told a friend of mine about this collection. She’s been reading some YA lately, she’s a huge Buffy fan, and she’s one smart cookie to boot. So I thought she might be into the whole “celebrate your inner geek” thing. But when I suggested that she might like it, I’m pretty sure I offended her.

Enough. It’s time to reclaim “geek” as a badge of pride. First step? Read this book.

Full disclosure: I didn’t love every story in this collection. I share Nymeth’s disappointment in “The Truth about Dino Girl,” and I flat-out stopped reading one of the stories. But aside from those two disappointments, I enjoyed every story, even if that particular subculture of geek was new to me.

I absolutely adored three of the stories and was sad to reach the last page of each:

• “Secret Identity” by Kelly Link
• “Quiz Bowl Antichrist” by David Levithan
• “The King of Pelinesse” by M.T. Anderson

So check this one out. If you find that you’re not loving one of the stories, you can always skip it and go to the next.

You owe it to your inner geek.

Borrow: Your local library | Swap
Buy: Your local bookstore | Powell’s | Amazon

Did You Like This Book? Try:

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• Liar
• Fairy Tale
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Can you trust me? Compare our taste!

Audience Pick!

Title: 13 Little Blue Envelopes
Author: Maureen Johnson
Category: Fiction, Young Adult
Rating: 2.5/5
Why I Read It: Because you told me to!

Summary: Ginny’s aunt is gone, but she left Ginny 13 mysterious letters. She is to do exactly as they say, and she can open the next one only when given permission. The first letter gets her on a plane to London, the second takes her to a complete stranger’s house, and the rest just get crazier from there.

Review: I had trouble connecting to Ginny in the first half of the book. She was just going through the motions and following the letters to the uh, letter. I know that was the crux of the plot, but her passive nature kept her flat in my mind. However, by the second half, what finally made her come alive was her grief. The ending even choked me up a bit.

This was an enjoyable read with a nice little romance. If you typically enjoy MJ’s books and especially if you’ve ever wanted to tour Europe, this one’s worth the time. (By the way, my fave-iest fave by MJ is still The Key to the Golden Firebird.)

From the Land of Writerly Musings: I liked the aunt’s letters spread throughout the book, but I wasn’t a fan of the few letters Ginny wrote to her best friend back home. They weren’t frequent, so they jarred my reading. Also unsettling was going from third-person point of view where Ginny’s emotions aren’t all that clear to a letter where she lays her heart out. I found myself wanting the emotions to be more woven into the text instead of stuck in those letters.

Borrow: Your local library | Swap
Buy: Your local bookstore | Powell’s | Amazon

Did you like this book? Try:

• Looking for Alaska
• An Abundance of Katherines—My rating: 4/5
• Girl at Sea—My rating: 2.5/5
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