The Summer I Became a Nerd

by Leah Rae Miller

[Leah]

The Summer I Became A Nerd is one of the greatest books I will ever read. Oh yes, I said it. Sometimes you just pick the perfect book at the right time, and The Summer I Became A Nerd was that book. I put down soooo many before I started this one, but I knew I wanted a cute Young Adult book, because I've been reading more serious books lately, and this one just ticked ALL THE BOXES. All of em. With ease. A cute guy? TICK. Comic books? TICK. An awesome nerd-like MC? TICK TICK TICK. Cool parents? TICK. The cute guys ass-kicking, name-taking best friend who gets his own book this month? TICK.

I cannot state enough how good The Summer I Became A Nerd is. Right from the opening chapter, when Maddie dresses like her favourite comic book character for school and gets roundly laughed out of the place, before transforming herself into someone completely opposite to the younger Maddie. Was I sad she hid her nerd-like tendencies? Sure, but it actually made for some HILARIOUS scenes. From her grappling to get hold of #400 of her favourite comic book, to meeting Logan, dressed up like she's hiding from the mafia, it just provided so much good. And I loved that Logan just went along with it, for the most part, and tried to encourage Maddie to just be Maddie, whatever version that was: be it the cheerleader version or the nerd version. I will never understand why you can't be both, but that's high school for ya.

I loved Maddie, I loved Logan, I loved Dan, I loved the comic books aspect, the LARP-ing (which actually sounds amazing), it was food for this nerdy girls soul. Although I'm more bookworm than nerd, because I'm not actually a big comic reader. I WATCH the comic TV shows - Arrow, The Flash, Legends of Tomorrow, Supergirl, the Marvel movies, I just have NO IDEA where to start in the comic book world. Also, comic book shops are few and far between in the UK which is devastating. So if you're reading this, and you love comics, hit a girl up with where the heck she can start, would you?!?

The Summer I Became A Nerd is one of those great books you'll remember forever. Yes, Maddie makes some mistakes, but the way she puts it right is legit the best thing ever. And the instantaneous feels between Maddie and Logan was everything I wanted and more. It made my heart sing, and I had the biggest smile on my face when I finished reading the book. I like it when a book just makes you happy. This book made me happy. We need more books that make us smile and laugh, especially with so much badness in the real world. Thanks Leah, not only do you have an awesome name, you have mad writing skills.