Zombies vs. Unicorns [Hardcover]

Holly Black (Editor), Justine Larbalestier (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 21, 2010

It's a question as old as time itself: which is better, the zombie or the unicorn? In this anthology, edited by Holly Black and Justine Larbalestier (unicorn and zombie, respectively), strong arguments are made for both sides in the form of short stories. Half of the stories portray the strengths--for good and evil--of unicorns and half show the good (and really, really bad-ass) side of zombies. Contributors include many bestselling teen authors, including Cassandra Clare, Libba Bray, Maureen Johnson, Meg Cabot, Scott Westerfeld, and Margo Lanagan. This anthology will have everyone asking: Team Zombie or Team Unicorn?

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Gr 9 Up–This highly entertaining anthology contains 12 distinct stories brought together by two well-known YA authors. Though each tale has its own flavor, the snarky dialogue between the coeditors draws them together, in the end creating the feel of one long, continuous story. With Black defending the unicorn side of the debate and Larbalestier advocating voraciously for zombies, each team has six powerful stories to sway readers into joining one side or another. Though there are no weak selections in this amazingly well-put-together anthology, there are several standouts for each side. Queen of the Undead, Carrie Ryan, takes readers once again to the world of The Forest of Hands and Teeth (Delacorte, 2009) in the commanding “Bougainvilla.” Though there is some graphic language, Alayna Dawn Johnson's “Love Will Tear Us Apart” takes place in another immensely intense and thought-provoking zombie world. Diana Peterfreund wows readers by delving again into the dark world of Rampant (HarperTeen, 2009) with “The Care and Feeding of Your Baby Killer Unicorn,” proving Astrid is not the only strong female hunter out there. Conversely, Meg Cabot provides a funnier view of the beasts in “Princess Prettypants,” in which a unicorn literally farts rainbows. The debate is wrapped up with Libba Bray's strong zombie tale, “Prom Night,” leaving readers with both hope and realism battling for dominance. This is a must-have for fantasy collections, though schools must be cautioned that there is strong profanity, a bestiality tale, and graphic scenes of both violence and sexual encounters.Jessica Miller, New Britain Public Library, CT
© Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

From Booklist

Can the chatter of the YA nerdosphere launch a successful book? This imaginative collection answers with a resounding yes. Beginning in February 2007, editors Black and Larbalestier debated zombies’ and unicorns’ strengths and weaknesses on Larbalestier’s blog, and the resulting interest roped in stories from a number of impressive authors, including Libba Bray, Meg Cabot, and Garth Nix. Handy icons make it easy to choose which stories each camp will want to read, but the book’s A-plus design—and the desire to know which team wins!—will have unicorn die-hards crossing over into flesh-eating territory, and vice versa. The standouts come from the authors who take their gimmicky mission the most seriously: Carrie Ryan’s “Bougainvillea,” in which she continues the mudo mythology she began in The Forest of Hands and Teeth (2009); Maureen Johnson’s highly unsettling “The Children of the Revolution”; Scott Westerfeld’s propulsive “Inoculata”; and Margo Lanagan’s “A Thousand Flowers,” in which she writes about unicorns with such freshness and fire, you’d think she invented them. Who ultimately wins? To reuse an old joke: everyone. --Daniel Kraus

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 432 pages
• Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books; First Edition edition (September 21, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1416989536
• ISBN-13: 978-1416989530
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (89 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #37,722 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Hi! I'm Holly Black, and I write contemporary fantasy of all different sorts. Some of my titles include TITHE, VALIANT (winner of the Andre Norton Award), IRONSIDE, the Spiderwick Chronicles (with Tony DiTerlizzi), the graphic novel series The Good Neighbors (with Ted Naifeh), and the new mobster fantasy series The Curse Workers, which includes WHITE CAT and the forthcoming RED GLOVE. I have also co-edited three anthologies, GEEKTASTIC, ZOMBIES VS. UNICORNS and WELCOME TO BORDERTOWN. I live in western Massachusetts with my husband, artist Theo Black, and several odd cats in a house with a secret library.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars 3.75 - Fun Reading and Intro to Authors, October 19, 2010

By 

Kindle-aholic - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Zombies vs. Unicorns (Hardcover)

I've been looking forward to this one for awhile. I had read books by some of the authors, but not all - there are a lot of stories in this one! The running commentary from Black & Larbalestier was funny, too. I think I'd have to give it to Team Zombie, in the end, but I did find a few Unicorn stories that I liked.

The Highest Justice by Garth Nix - haven't read any Nix books before. This one has a unicorn and a zombie, so maybe its best that it starts the collection. I liked it, not spectacular but still a good one.

Love Will Tear Us Apart by Alaya Dawn Johnson - half-zombie boy falls for boy who has his own killer secrets; I liked this one, it drew me in and although the zombie-mind is not a happy one, I found myself rooting for them.

Purity test by Naomi Novik - Loved this one, very funny. A unicorn needs a virgin to help it on its quest to save baby unicorns, although capable warrior virgins are hard to find.

Bougainvillea by Carrie Ryan - set in the world of Forest of Hands and Teeth, although with different characters. I can't say that I liked the main character, but she felt very real (which was probably the unsettling part). I liked the end.

A Thousand Flowers by Margo Lanagan - for me the most disturbing, about what happens after the unicorn and virgin meet up. Not sure how I feel about this one. The prose was well done, but the subject matter if you thought about it too much was icky.

The Children of the Revolution by Maureen Johnson - this one was all right, taking its cues from entertainment gossip; a student on the vacation from hell finds herself caring for the children of a famous, mysterious celebrity. But something isn't quite right with those kids...

The Care and Feeding of Your Baby Killer Unicorn by Diana Peterfreund - Set in the same world as her Rampant series. This one was good, but it felt unfinished, too rushed.

Inoculata by Scott Westerfeld - I haven't read anything by this author, but he is going on my TBR list. Good story about the kids who grow up after the zombie apocalypse, and what happens when a chance mutation gives them a second chance. I won't look at boredom quite the same way...

Princess Prettypants by Meg Cabot - Liz dreams of getting her own car for her 17 birthday, and ends up with a unicorn. Then she finds out just how handy a unicorn can be, Fun story - especially when she deals with her ex and the bully.

Cold Hands by Cassandra Clare - this one was OK. In a town where the dead come back, Adele and her love are parted by death, for a little while.

The Third Virgin by Kathleen Duey - this one was just OK too, a darker unicorn story, with a beast addicted to life - taking it that is.

Prom Night by Libba Bray - Another good one, a mixture of hope and moments of happiness in a hopeless situation.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best. Anthology. Ever., May 1, 2011

By 

LooksieLovitz - See all my reviews

This review is from: Zombies vs. Unicorns (Hardcover)

In case you were wondering, I am Team Zombie. Now that that's out of the way, I have to say that I really loved all the stories. This anthology has such a great collection of authors. Most of the stories I was wishing they were their own 300 page book because the stories were THAT good.

Now back to why I'm Team Zombie. I am a vampire fan and Zombie's are pretty effing close. Plus, here in Minnesota we have this thing called the Zombie Pub Crawl where I believe there was over 13,000 zombies this year? Yeah. We Minnesotans love our zombies. I have gone been a zombie for the crawl twice and I also attended a minor league baseball game as a zombie on zombie night. So being that I have been undead and eaten brains, I can attest to how awesome zombies are. So there is no way I could be anything but Team Zombie.

Unicorns are a bit of a rarity. I never see them at halloween and the only time I ever see them are in those 50 cent sticker machines at like Denny's. That doesn't make them less cool though. They just don't get the attention they deserve. They are elegant, mysterious and fart rainbows! And rainbows are bad ass. Just ask the Double Rainbow guy. He even cried at their awesomeness (see the YouTube video if you don't know who I'm talking about.)

Anyway, back to this book... There isn't really much I can say unless I go into every single story so just trust me when I say this is a MUST read. :)

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Your favorite? Zombie or Unicorn?, December 24, 2010

By 

Connie Goldsmith (Sacramento, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Zombies vs. Unicorns (Hardcover)

"Since the dawn of time one question has dominated all others: Zombies or Unicorns?" Thus begins this highly enjoyable anthology by 12 of today's top teen writers. While each story is a star in its own right, perhaps the most entertaining part of the book is the snarky dialogue between editors Black and Larbalestier in which each promotes her view of the vices and virtues of the disparate beasts.

You may be surprised to read that some unicorns are killer creatures and not the sweet horned-horse that little girls love, while some zombies are loyal and loving, capable of meaningful long-term relationships! The stories are as different from one another as are the authors. There's Carrie Ryan's, "Bougainvillea," set in the world of her "The Forest of Hands and Teeth," in which zombies may very well win the world; Kathleen Duey's, "The Third Virgin," in which we meet the unicorn that steals part of a person's life while giving some of it back; Libba Bray's, "Prom Night," and Scott Westerfield's, "Inoculata."

The book came into being as the result of a series of blogs between the editors, perhaps the first book to be born of blogging (or at least the best if not the first). Fun to read, disturbing at times, I raced through this innovatively-jacketed book in a couple of days wishing for more. So who wins? Zombies or unicorns? Each reader will have to decide. I preferred the darker zombie stories, yet would much rather meet a unicorn!

Connie Goldsmith, Children's Book Reviewer for,
California Kids, a Sacramento regional parenting magazine