The Secret Loves of Geek Girls is a non-fiction anthology that combines prose, comics, and illustrated stories to explore the lives and loves of an outstanding cast of female creators. This collection includes contributions from celebrated names such as Margaret Atwood, Mariko Tamaki, Trina Robbins, Marguerite Bennett, Noelle Stevenson, Marjorie Liu, Carla Speed McNeil, and many more.
This compelling compilation shares tales from both perspectives: the fans who are passionate about video games, comics, and sci-fi, as well as the creators and industry insiders who bring these worlds to life. It offers a unique glimpse into the hearts and minds of women who are deeply engaged in the geek culture.
Life in Outer Space is a heartwarming tale that follows Sam Kinnison, a geeky sixteen-year-old with a passion for movies, games, and all things horror. He's content in his world of nerdy pursuits until the arrival of Camilla Carter, a girl who's not just beautiful and friendly but also seemingly out of Sam's league.
Despite Sam's determination to stick to his movie-guided life plan and ignore Camilla, she has her own agenda that surprisingly includes him. As they grow closer, Sam discovers the joys of true friendship and begins to question if he's been learning from the right movies. Melissa Keil's debut young adult novel is a sweet and humorous exploration of high school life, love, and the confusion that comes with growing up.
Randall Munroe left NASA in 2005 to start up his hugely popular site XKCD, a web comic of romance, sarcasm, math, and language, which offers a witty take on the world of science and geeks. It now has 600,000 to a million page hits daily. Every now and then, Munroe would get emails asking him to arbitrate a science debate. "My friend and I were arguing about what would happen if a bullet got struck by lightning, and we agreed that you should resolve it . . . " He liked these questions so much that he started up What If. If your cells suddenly lost the power to divide, how long would you survive? How dangerous is it, really, to be in a swimming pool in a thunderstorm? If we hooked turbines to people exercising in gyms, how much power could we produce? What if everyone only had one soulmate? When (if ever) did the sun go down on the British empire? How fast can you hit a speed bump while driving and live? What would happen if the moon went away?
In pursuit of answers, Munroe runs computer simulations, pores over stacks of declassified military research memos, solves differential equations, and consults with nuclear reactor operators. His responses are masterpieces of clarity and hilarity, studded with memorable cartoons and infographics. They often predict the complete annihilation of humankind, or at least a really big explosion. Far more than a book for geeks, WHAT IF: Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions explains the laws of science in operation in a way that every intelligent reader will enjoy and feel much the smarter for having read.