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?
Zombies vs. Unicorns
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Book Description
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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.
© 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
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Vine™ Review
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My biggest problem with this audio book collection is that it is rated for kids ages 13+ Now, I am either getting way too old or our society is really slipping. These short stories include vulgar language (think "I want to Fxxk him", "A finger right up the ass" etc.) Now all of this language is fine for adults. That I have no issue with. If I was to purchase this for my 13 year old I would be furious that the stories contained so much crude vulgarity! You have homosexual zombies, unicorns having sex with women, bad language, a lot of sexual overture.
Now if you are an adult & you get a kick out of stories like this then by all means this is something worth having. If you are getting this for your kids, then I guess you should use your parental discretion to decide what you feel is appropriate for your kids. If you don't have a problem with any of the above mentioned, then fine. For those who do, now you know.
I gave this 3 stars because there were some pretty entertaining short stories in this collection. Besides I was pretty much hooked at the title! Some were fun & silly. Some were dark, but still fun for the most part. It is nice that unlike some short story collections, these are just that - short stories. They are not parts of a much bigger story that might leave you a little in the dark trying to get a grasp on the characters.
Bottom line, entertaining listen for adults & worth having if you can get a good price on it.
Now if you are an adult & you get a kick out of stories like this then by all means this is something worth having. If you are getting this for your kids, then I guess you should use your parental discretion to decide what you feel is appropriate for your kids. If you don't have a problem with any of the above mentioned, then fine. For those who do, now you know.
I gave this 3 stars because there were some pretty entertaining short stories in this collection. Besides I was pretty much hooked at the title! Some were fun & silly. Some were dark, but still fun for the most part. It is nice that unlike some short story collections, these are just that - short stories. They are not parts of a much bigger story that might leave you a little in the dark trying to get a grasp on the characters.
Bottom line, entertaining listen for adults & worth having if you can get a good price on it.
9 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format: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.
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
Format: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. :)
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. :)
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Great for road trip!
This audiobook was the perfect family entertainment for a long road trip with teenagers... extremely funny and very well narrated! Read more
Published 26 days ago by Kalera Stratton
Not a bad set, some fun stories
There isn't too much to add to what others have already said. There are plenty of entertaining stories here for fans of unicorns and for fans of zombies. Read more
Published 1 month ago by A. Helfer
Really excellent
I didn't know what to expect, but I enjoyed all of the stories in this book. None of them were what you might expect from a zombie or unicorn story; they each take a new and... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Elissa
Team Unicorn!
This is hooves down the best anthology I've ever undead - I mean read.
Not only did I love every story in this book, but the banter between Holly Black (Team Unicorn)... Read more
Not only did I love every story in this book, but the banter between Holly Black (Team Unicorn)... Read more
Published 2 months ago by Jennifer Ironside
Team Zombiecorn
A charming little anthology from YA authors Holly Black, Maureen Johnson, Meg Cabot, Libba Bray, and others. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Evil Wylie
Makes me want more!
As I started to write my review for this (amazingly fantastic) book, I realized that writing it all together would be completely impossible. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Reading Teen
Not as fun as I'd hoped it would be
I'm not a huge fan of short stories. I read Welcome to the Monkey House by Kurt Vonnegut and since then, I've kinda pooped out on other short story collections. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Jennifer L. Rinehart
I CAN'T CHOOSE MY TEAM!!!!!!!!!!!
It's acctually funny how I found this book. My friend was reading it and forced me to ask everyone I could who was better. After I saw the answer, I had to read the book. Read more
Published 4 months ago by BookEnvy
Fun and Dark
I'm not much of a horror book fan, but Zombies vs. Unicorns balanced it out with humor. The two editors try to convince the reader that one or the other is better. Read more
Published 6 months ago by Cherese Vines
zombies-unicorns-word smithing
While the stories were well constructed, typical east and west coast mentality in unnecesary use of vulgar words takes the work right out of family sharing. Read more
Published 8 months ago by cajunchief
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