Zombies vs. Unicorns, edited by Justine Larbalestier and Holly Black

zombievsunicornsIt began as an Internet debate on the blogs of YA authors Justine Larbalestier and Holly Black. Which one is cooler-zombies or unicorns? Justine announced that she was pro-zombie and anti-unicorn, and Holly stood up for the awesomeness of unicorns versus the nastiness of zombies. 

The discussion grew animated enough that Holly and Justine recruited writers to form Team Unicorn and Team Zombie and published an anthology. The resulting stories, some about zombies and some about unicorns (clearly marked), are unconventional, imaginative, sometimes funny, and often disturbing.  Each story is preceded by an introduction and bickering between Justine and Holly about the pros and cons of zombies and unicorns.

My favorites include Alaya Dawn Johnston’s “Love Will Tear Us Apart”, a powerful, terrifying, somehow sweet,  and ultimately doomed, love story from a zombie’s point of view;  Naomi Novik’s “Purity Test”, a wisecracking urban fantasy that shatters the stereotypes of unicorns and virgins; Maureen Johnson’s “Children of the Revolution”,  which veers between creepiness and humor as a college student babysitting for a rock star discovers the hard way that the children are monsters;  and Meg Cabot’s “Princess Prettypants”, an entertaining send-up of the hearts-and-rainbows unicorns everyone thinks of when unicorns come up in conversation, with a great revenge scenario to boot. 

All the stories are strong, though, and I came away with a new appreciation for both zombies and unicorns. The only thing missing was a story with an actual battle between them: in the battle between zombies and unicorns, who really WOULD win? Highly, highly recommended for YA collections and high school library media centers. Ages 14 and up.

Contains:  language, violence, gore, bestiality, homosexuality, drug use, zombie cannibalism, animal cruelty, childbirth.

Review by Kirsten Kowalewski

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