The Summer I Became a Nerd

OMG. Seriously?
*grinning*
OMG It's fun. Adorable. Can't stop smiling. It's kind of silly and totally ridiculous.
Cute, light, fluffy, amusing. Absolutely nothing serious. A perfect amusing summer read. I swallowed it whole.

I think this deserves 5* for sheer hilarity, but yeah. Solidly in a 3* camp. grin

FINAL VERDICT: *nudge* Go on, you know you want to! You'll love it, I swear

My Fast and Furious Take: Leah Rae Miller’s young adult contemporary debut The Summer I Became A Nerd is a breezy, entertaining story of a comic book nerd hiding inside a cheerleader body, the adorable geek that catches her eye, and the summer when one back-ordered comic book brought them together. Featuring a catchy romance, great supporting players, and a wonderful message about being true to yourself, The Summer I Became A Nerd is a very solid debut that places Miller on my list of authors to watch. A fun – and funny – summer read.

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Digging Into the Details: Right from the start of Leah Rae Miller’s debut The Summer I Became A Nerd, I adored protagonist Maddie. She was so relatable and had such a show more funny way of looking at things that she was very easy to like – even if she was way too adept at lying her way through life to hide her obsession with comics. Starting with a highly informative prologue which introduced Maddie’s comic book geek side and clearly revealed why she hid that passion in high school, Miller proves adept at quickly and efficiently laying the foundation of Maddie’s character. Chapter one sealed the deal with the way it showed her agonizing over the wait for the delivery of the final installment of her favorite comic book series The Super Ones, then preparing herself to read it only to discover she received the WRONG MAGAZINE. I almost died right along with Maddie when she realized the error and had to decide whether or not to brave the local comic book shop to get that all-important installment. Of course she does (or we wouldn’t have a story!), and meets one of the highlights of this book – Logan.

It was sooo easy to fall for Logan, who was very comfortable in his own skin – although maybe a bit too sweet for his own good. Logan’s gentle attempts to win over Maddie were endearing, and he was so kind and interesting that I had to fall a little in love with him myself. He was as big a comic aficionado as Maddie (for a very good reason), who enjoyed live-action role-playing games and wanted to break into the radio business. He was a very adorable (or as the book description states “adorkable”) nerd.

The chemistry between Maddie and Logan was wonderful; I really felt like they should be together, and didn’t like the way Maddie would sometimes ride roughshod over Logan’s feelings to keep her reputation from going up in flames. There were times I just wanted Maddie to “man up” to how much she loved comics, and to realize what a great guy she had in front of her. He was glaringly the better choice for Maddie, since she and her football player boyfriend Eric had zilch in common. I could see trouble brewing, however, in the way Maddie tried to resolve her relationship with Eric once she realized Logan was perfect for her. The fallout was inevitable, but set things up perfectly for that final piece of the romance puzzle – girl tries to win boy back.

Supporting characters were just as well-drawn as Maddie and Logan. I really liked Logan’s best friend Dan. He could have easily been irritating, but his strong loyalty to Logan and his willingness to stand up for him won me over (the way he proudly waved his nerd flag was another point in his favor). I also loved Logan’s free-spirited mother (who taught Logan everything he knows about role-playing games) and his dramatic little sister Vera, who actually accompanied Logan and Maddie on their first date! If you must have a little sister tag along, you could do a LOT worse than the cute-as-can-be Vera. Maddie’s boyfriend Eric seemed to be the clichéd jock, but his reaction when Maddie finally came clean about who she really was provided a nice shake-up of my perceptions, while her best friend Terra – who seemed as sweet and shallow as Maddie was trying to be – showed what a true friend she was when she put Maddie’s welfare ahead of angry feelings after Maddie ran away from an argument. Miller managed to show there was a bit more to each character than originally meets the eye with the minimum of fuss.

The story itself was just a great deal of fun and made me wish I had found something when I was young that I loved as much as Maddie and Logan love their comic books. While comic books are not my game, I really enjoyed the discussions they engaged in about their favorite story lines; they kind of made me a bit curious about the genre. But being a nerd isn’t just about comic books; the world of live action role-playing gets some of its own love when Logan invites Maddie along to the fantasy game he and Dan participate in every summer. I had to admire the detail involved – costumes, character planning, rules and regs – and realized I wouldn’t have the guts to attempt something like this on my own in the real world, but it was pretty neat to read about. The last quarter of the book did tip a wee bit into the “overboard” range as Maddie tried to make everything right with Logan after that rather unfortunate misunderstanding involving her relationship with Eric, but it stayed cute and true to the story so I’ll forgive the excess.

Last, but not least, The Summer I Became A Nerd has a great message running throughout that Shakespeare summed up with the words, “This above all: to thine own self be true.” So much of Maddie’s energy could have been better spent by acknowledging who she was inside and not letting other people’s opinions weigh with her as much as they did. She could have been doing what she loved to do, going to comic book conventions instead of bad pop star concerts, and dating Logan instead of Eric all those years instead of keeping her nerd side hidden. It is very easy to let what others think and say have an influence on your actions, and once Maddie allowed her true self to come forward she was able to figure out a way for it all to work. Sometimes what you think of as your biggest secret turns out to be an “oh, well” one instead.

Leah Rae Miller has a very light and breezy style that made The Summer I Became A Nerd a quick and entertaining read. Everything flowed smoothly, the relationships developed nicely, and the characters were easy to like. The finale was a little over-the-top, but there was so much to love here – including a great message that resonates at any age – that I’m going to overlook that small fault. The Summer I Became A Nerd is a very solid debut from Miller, and I look forward to seeing what she comes up with in the future. show less

I don't know how I heard of this book, but I'm really glad I did! I saw it a few years ago, and put it on my TBR list, but I never got to it until now.

WHAT I LIKED:
It was relatable. I really can relate to Maddie's situation because I've been there, in fact I still am. Except I don't try to hide myself to the same extent that she did.
It was short! Once in awhile, I like to read a short and easy book, and this was perfect for that time. I got through this book quite quickly, and I enjoyed every single word of it. The chapters were short, which was also good. :)

WHAT I DISLIKED:
Nothing, really. Although I do wish the book was longer, so that I'd have more awesomeness to read. Is there a second one, I sure hope there is, if not, this show more ending was good. :)

STUFF:
I didn't know whether to put this in the LIKE section or the DISLIKE section, so I'll put it here: At times in the book, I was literally shaking my head at Maddie's decisions. Right from the first lie she told, I knew this would end up a disaster, but as it progressed, and I got to learn more about the characters, I understood why she made the choices that she did, but that didn't mean they were any less stupid...

Anyways, great book, I think I might even look for another book by this author show less

It’s very rare when I read a book that is centered in Louisiana. It is even rarer when I find one that is written by a native Louisiana author.

That is the main reason I picked this book out.

The heart and soul I found when I started reading is what made me stick around.

The Summer I Became a Nerd is delightful! I instantly fell in love with Maddie’s world and I felt like I could relate to her hiding things she likes. It’s great to read about someone finding themselves and not caring what anyone else thinks.
I fell in step beside her and Logan whenever they were together. Their parts were my favorite. Hilarious and adorable.

The atmosphere of this book reminded me of a Sarah Dessen novel (whom I love) and the whimsy that surrounds this show more group of characters was reminiscent of a John Green book (ahem, who I may love more).

Dan. The. Freakin. Man.
He made the damn book for me. He was just great in every scene he stepped into. Charming. Witty. Sly. Dirty Mouth Dan.

Not only could I relate to all the geeky stuff, I absolutely related to the Louisiana aspects.

The gross, sticky warm weather.
The beauty in just a field speckled with Magnolia trees.
LSU Tigers!
The Festival of Lights in Natchitoches around Christmas time.

It was refreshing to say the least.

You want one word to sum this book up? One word to make you need no other reason to absolutely read it?

Awesome.

This book is awesome. show less

Snow day reading. I wanted something light and fluffy, and this fit the bill.

Maddie is a geek hiding in the body of a cheerleader, and she's worked hard to maintain her cover and her popularity. She is desperately afraid of her peers laughing and making fun of her, thanks to a Halloween experience when she dressed as a comic book character in front of the whole school. Only, she needs the new issue of her favorite comic book series, and she has to venture into the forbidden: a comic book store.

This is a story of accepting yourself, and learning to be happy in your own skin. It was a very quick read, and I enjoyed it. The main character did annoy me a bit with her waffling and creeping about, but that goes with the premise, I guess.

Debo comenzar diciendo que casi no leo este libro debido a la portada (si, si, ya se lo que dicen de no juzgar a un libro por su portada, pero...) Me alegro de haber sucumbido a la tentación de la palabra nerd en el titulo, porque es DIVERTIDO.

¿Comics, juegos de rol y cosplays? SÍ, por favor!

Mientras leía no podía dejar de notar que la historia tiene un aire JohnGreeniano, con personajes unicos -mi favorito es Dan, el mejor amigo de Logan- y con la mezcla perfecta entre risas y sentimentalismos.

Debo comenzar diciendo que casi no leo este libro debido a la portada (si, si, ya se lo que dicen de no juzgar a un libro por su portada, pero...) Me alegro de haber sucumbido a la tentación de la palabra nerd en el titulo, porque es DIVERTIDO.

¿Comics, juegos de rol y cosplays? SÍ, por favor!

Mientras leía no podía dejar de notar que la historia tiene un aire JohnGreeniano, con personajes unicos -mi favorito es Dan, el mejor amigo de Logan- y con la mezcla perfecta entre risas y sentimentalismos.