The Summer I Became a Nerd

by Leah Rae Miller

[Ashley]

Nose Graze — Young Adult book reviews

The Summer I Became a Nerd was adorable! I'm a huge nerd so this book appealed to me for obvious reasons. It's about a girl struggling between "fitting in" in high school and just being herself in all her nerd glory. It's filled with pure nerdiness (including comic books and live action role-playing) and an adorable, awkward, hesitant, sweet romance!

I've never been a huge LARP (live action role-play) girl myself, but I really enjoyed reading about it in The Summer I Became a Nerd. I do like video games, and LARPing is basically like acting out a video game in real life. Not 100% my thing, but so much fun to read about! It's like Lord of the Rings comes to life!

But my absolute favourite part of this book was the romance. Honestly, it's pure YA sweetness. There are so many cute awkward moments that make the relationship feel real. It's not perfect and it's not always flawless, but it's adorable and it's about two teenagers who like each other but don't really know what they're doing or how to do it.

The one annoying thing about this book was Madelyne. She wasn't always the most likable character. That does make for some great character development though, because she certainly learns her lessons and becomes a better person at the end.. but it doesn't change the fact that she was pretty aggravating for the first part of the book! She's not exaggerating when she says she has a "secret life". At one point she goes on a date with Logan and when she sees her friend there she HIDES. Like full on ducking-behind-counters and ignoring-texts and pretending-she-didn't-see-her-friend. She doesn't want to be seen with Logan because then she has to explain to her friend why she's with a nerd and not with her jock boyfriend. I just didn't like how she cared so much about what other people thought. But in a sense, I guess this was realistic because teenagers are definitely like that. Many girls in high school do think that popularity is the most important thing in the world. It's sad, but I guess it's true.

In any case, the book ended on a really great note and I think that Madelyne pulled through in the end. She really went above and beyond when it came to making up for her mistakes. There is a totally and completely epic showdown at the end that had me screaming and squealing and wanting to go out and join the LARP game! If you have any interest in comic books or video games or other awesome nerdy activities, I definitely recommend The Summer I Became a Nerd! It's cute, it's fun, and it will definitely give you an entertaining afternoon!