Name: Monicap's review of The Summer I Became a Nerd by Leah Rae Miller
Item: The Summer I Became a Nerd
Rating: 3
Author: Monicap

Leah Rae Miller

On the outside, seventeen-year-old Madelyne Summers looks like your typical blond cheerleader—perky, popular, and dating the star quarterback. But inside, Maddie spends more time agonizing over what will happen in the next issue of her favorite comic book than planning pep rallies with her squad. That she's a nerd hiding in a popular girl's body isn't just unknown, it's anti-known. And she needs to keep it that way.Summer is the only time Maddie lets her real self out to play, but when she slips up and the adorkable guy behind the local comic shop's counter uncovers her secret, she's busted. Before she can shake a pom-pom, Maddie's whisked into Logan's world of comic conventions, live-action role-playing, and first-person-shooter video games. And she loves it. But the more she denies who she really is, the deeper her lies become...and the more she risks losing Logan forever.

The Summer I Became a Nerd

Skye Landau

On the outside, seventeen-year-old Madelyne Summers looks like your typical blond cheerleader--perky, popular, and dating the star quarterback. But inside, Maddie spends more time agonizing over what will happen in the next issue of her favorite comic book than planning pep rallies with her squad. That she's a nerd hiding in a popular girl's body isn't just unknown, it's anti-known. And she needs to keep it that way.Summer is the only time Maddie lets her real self out to play, but when she slips up and the adorkable guy behind the local comic shop's counter uncovers her secret, she's busted. Before she can shake a pom-pom, Maddie's whisked into Logan's world of comic conventions, live-action role-playing, and first-person-shooter video games. And she loves it. But the more she denies who she really is, the deeper her lies become...and the more she risks losing Logan forever.

Monicap

Really fun, cute book. Definitely worth the read.

Dan was my favorite :)

Julia Seiser

I loved this book. At first I thought it would just be one of those books that were just like others. But then it turned out I really did love it.

Becky

I loved it. It was the perfect easy read for starting my holiday.

I loved it because it appealed to the geek in me. It had comic books and awesome references. It also appealed to me because I know I still blush and become convinced they'll refuse to serve me everytime I buy a comic book.

It had a wonderful romance in it. But it was also great because it was all about being yourself and being accepted. I know I still worry about being accepted by my friends sometimes. I'm still too embarrassed to show my tumblr to people. So to read a book about being yourself and your true friends accepting you anyway is great. It also reminded me of my terrible friend habits where I can easily blow off some of my best friends simply because I don't want to leave the house or get dressed that day, but that's my issue.

I loved the friendships though, they were so nice. And I also enjoyed the dialogue and the snappy remarks as well. Who doesn't enjoy a book that can make them laugh out loud? I think Martha was my favourite, her entire character was flawless.

Tiffany Robinson

This was a a light, fun and fast read. I really enjoyed this one.

Candyce Kirk

This book made my fangirl heart happy <3!
Full review to follow soon.

Purple: "Be true to yourself and others will be true to you, too." Yeah right, what a crock.
Green: I'd be true to you no matter what.


I really hate to use the word "cute" to describe a book. I do. But it is the best word to describe this one. Adorkable also works. I absolutely devoured this book and all its nerdy goodness. From comic books and comic books shops to LARPing and NerdCon, there was just so much awesome nerdy goodness in this book. How could I not love it?

Maddie, aka Wonderful Wendy, was such a darned likable character. I want to be friends with her. If she was real and closer to my age, I have to think we'd totally be friends. Maddie was so believably conflicted in the first part of this book. She fought hard to hide her geeky tendencies and to become popular. Now she's a cheerleader. She dates the quarterback. Everyone knows her. But only a few people know the "real Maddie," the closet comic book nerd who daydreams about the cute nerdy boy. I would venture a guess most people can relate to Maddie and her feelings. We all know it wasn't really cool to be who you really were in high school. If you wanted to fit in, you had to be like everyone else. It could be downright exhausting at times. 


  "No fantasizing about kissing adorkable nerd boys for me, no matter how kissable they look." 


Awesome Logan was totally swoon-worthy. Soccer player. Radio DJ. Comic book aficionado. LARP-player. What more could a girl ask for? He was sweet and vulnerable and I just wanted to hug him. The chemistry between him and Maddie was perfectly written for a YA book. It was clean and sweet and completely realistic. 


  "Did you just blackmail the game master?" 
"A girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do." 


I even connected with the secondary characters in this book. Logan's mom, Martha, was one of my favorite characters in the book. She was just so awesome. I absolutely loved her interactions with Maddie. I'm a sucker for when a parent helps a boy/girl make the grand gesture that saves a relationship. Dan just made me laugh. He was the perfect sidekick for Logan. Even Terra, though I had my doubts about her initially, pleasantly surprised me by being a whole lot less superficial than I suspected. 

This was just a totally feel-good read. I loved the writing. Everything from the characters to the plot to the dialogue just felt real. It was believable. It had funny moments and "aww" moments and was exactly the happy read I needed tonight. It just made me smile and want to hug my iPad. And I just might have. :) 

Stop by my blog for more bookish goodness.

Lisa ✩ @lifeinlit

Find this review and others like it at Lost in Literature!

My inner nerd was bursting at the thought of reading this book when I first laid eyes on it. I may have been similar to Maddie in the sense that I spent a lot of time in high school just trying to fit in. I wasn't a cheerleader or dating the most popular guy in school as she was, but I just didn't do anything that would put me on the radar. High school can be tough... and Maddie knew this well. But how long could she realistically hide the fact that she absolutely adored comics, thought playing games in costume was fun, and secretly had a crush on a nerd?

The Summer I Became a Nerd was the epitome of a fun story. Miller's humor showed brightly through her writing style. It was such a joy to read. One of my favorite scenes was the dress up game part. Without giving anything away, I'll just say the costumes, personalities and demeanor of the characters was hilarious! There was also a romance-a-brewin' that was totally frowned upon for SO many reasons, starting with the fact that Maddie already had a boyfriend, and ending with the fact that her liking a dork would essentially be social suicide for Maddie. She definitely had choices to make... and it didn't come easy to her.

Anyone with that hidden dorky side (realistically, that's most of us I think... :P) would really enjoy this story. If you ever wished your cheer-leading uniform had a cape (seriously, how cool would that be?!) or wanted to kiss the dorkiest kid in school in the back room of a comic book store, you should definitely give this book a chance.

Skye Landau &
The Summer I Became a Nerd by Leah Rae Miller

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Skye Landau &
The Summer I Became a Nerd by Leah Rae Miller