The Selective Collective reads
THE SUMMER I BECAME A NERD by LEAH RAE MILLER
The Selective Collective features THE SUMMER I BECAME A NERD by LEAH RAE MILLER, provided to us by Entangled Teen for review and book club discussion. For my part in this Selective Collective post, I get to review the awesomeness that was this book!
Title: The Summer I Became A Nerd
by Leah Rae MillerPublishing Info: May 7, 2013 by Entangled
Genres: Contemporary, Young Adult
Find it on the web: Buy from Amazon // GoodreadsDate Completed: April 21, 2013
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.
In the words of our main character Maddie, this book was positively “adorkable”. THE SUMMER I BECAME A NERD is the perfect book for anyone who as even the slightest bit of inner-nerd dwelling inside of them. It was such a fun book and an absolute pleasure to read, simply because as a book nerd, I can totally identify with Maddie.
Right off the bat, you know trouble is brewing when you find out that Maddie is hiding a huge secret from the entire world: she’s a HUGE nerd… and nobody knows it. She’s living a double life as the popular cheerleader and secret comic book-loving, sci-fi-watching nerd. I feel like as a YA book reviewer, I totally related to Maddie’s desire to hide her inner-dorkiness. It took me a long time to feel ready to tell people about my blog, even though I’m proud of it and honored to be a part of this amazing book blogging community. I felt like it was something so nerdy and that people would frown upon, and truthfully, I still have the urge to hide it sometimes, but I loved reading about Maddie and her relatable issue.
Our main squeeze in this book is Logan, a totally “adorkable” guy, as Maddie calls him — And I couldn’t agree more! I absolutely loved Logan for our crushable guy in this book. He was so sweet and delightfully nerdy and naturally, he became the person that Maddie really started to open up to about her hidden side. Right away you can totally tell these two are meant for each other due to their common interests and shared sense of humor. I loved seeing Maddie really start to reveal her true self. She got to let go and have fun without feeling like she was going to be ridiculed for being honest about her hobbies.
I thought the conflicts were done so well in this book, tackling popularity, the strength of true friends, and of course the classic relationship development. I loved that THE SUMMER I BECAME A NERD makes it hip to be a total nerd! Guys, there is LARPing in this book (Live Action Role-Playing, for those of you who don’t know) and aside from geeking out with The Big Bang Theory and of course, the only LARPing I’ve seen in action in Role Models, I hadn’t really known much 
about it. To be honest…? A small piece of me kind of wants to be a part of that! It would almost be like being in your own play or movie or some kind of improv and this book really helped shed a new light on that whole scene for me. It actually sounds like a lot of fun and realistically, I’m sure it’ll never happen. The idea of it sounds like a blast though!
If you’re looking for a fun and totally nerdy adventure, look no further! THE SUMMER I BECAME A NERD is such a fun book and has some really great messages as well. I loved every element about it — the friendships, the romance, the families of the main characters, even the location because I really haven’t read a YA book set in Louisiana before. I definitely had a blast reading this and I absolutely recommend it!
Maddie: I totally get where Maddie’s coming from. She had a traumatic teasing experience that made her want to cover up her inner-nerd and you know what. I can’t blame her! I loved watching her discover that people can accept her for who she is. She really grows up a lot in this book and learns some fantastic life-lessons that some people never learn in their own lives. I loved her as the main character!
Logan: Logan was so adorable. He sounds like the nerdy-hot guy I would have crushed on in high school. I was never into the jock guys so that totally would have been my choice! He had a super sweet personality too, but wasn’t totally love-struck that when things got rough, he didn’t let people walk all over him. Both Logan and Maddie felt like really real people to me and I think that’s why I enjoyed the book so much!
The parents: Oh my gosh, I loved the nerdy parents!!! It was so much fun to see them get their inner-geek on as well. I loved how much they were a part of the story.
BOOKS LIKE THE SUMMER I BECAME A NERD
Hope my review gets you interested in THE SUMMER I BECAME A NERD! And please don’t forget to check out the features from the other ladies in The Selective Collective! We each have a post to feature a different side of THE SUMMER I BECAME A NERD so please go visit their take on the book as well!
| Tee @ YA Crush | Round Table: The Summer I Became A Nerd |
| Candice @ The Grown-Up YA | Casting Call: The Summer I Became A Nerd |
| Diana & Sandie @ Teen Lit Rocks | Author Q&A: Leah Rae Miller |
| Daphne & Kristina @ Gone Pecan | From Zero to Hero |
20 thoughts on “The Selective Collective features The Summer I Became a Nerd: Review”
This book was one I meant to read, but time got away from me and I completely forgot. After reading your review, I might just have to go back and do so!
Oh yay!! It was just so much fun. Hope you enjoy!!
HI!
I’m just reading this at the moment, they’re just on their way to Maddie’s first LARP game. I <3 Logan! And I love how Maddie feels comfortable being herself around him..
Great review, makes me excited to read more.
Oh my gosh, YES. And I loooooove Logan. He’s so cute.
Great review and I love the GIF!!!
Full disclosure: Leah Rae Miller is my wonderful, talented and jubilant little sister. Needless to say, I am thrilled and jealous that her FIRST BOOK turned out so spot-on (always thought I would be the first to publish a book, but she showed me that hard work and real talent trump big plans and procrastination any day). Even more exciting, though, is seeing the reactions of those who have read The Summer I Became a Nerd. Your kind and thoughtful words make my heart fill with pride, I am sent over the moon by them. Leah is quite simply baffled and dumbstruck that nearly every review has been such an enthusiastic thumbs up. I’m not in the least surprised, I always expected great things. Thank you so much and keep spreading the word! (BTW, I take no credit for her skills, but I accept full responsibility for her love of comics and all things nerdy. I taught her to read using comics and it hasn’t slowed down since.)
Thank you so much for your wonderful comment!! It’s always nice to hear that sibling pride and we’re all so glad you taught her all about comics and all things nerdy 🙂 The Summer I Became A Nerd was such a fun book and I really did love it. It was really touching to hear your reaction to all of the positive reviews so thank you for sharing!!
I saw your review of this earlier this morning, but I wouldn’t let myself read it until I stopped being lazy and wrote my own review of it 🙂 I agree with you about the LARPing, it’s so not my normal thing, but the book did make it sound really fun and I’m super competitive so I feel like I’d really get into it. Great review!
Sounds adorkable 😉 will for sure look for it.
This sounds like a fun book! I already had my eye on it, being that I’m a huge nerd and a teensy bit geek. I’m so glad that it was enjoyable – and I can’t wait to get my hands on a copy.
Oh, it was SO much fun!! I hope you love it when you read it — I think so many people will enjoy it!
My dear girl, I would go LARPing with you any day! It sounds like Nerd Heaven. I really adored this book. It just made me smile every moment I was reading it. And Logan–oh my gosh with his adorable freckles–he had me from that first moment. He’s definitely the guy I would have crushed on in high school (only it would have been a secret since boys, even the nerds,were scary). This book was such a n awesome pick.
Yes! This book sounds just as awesome as I wanted it to be! It had LARPing in it?! That’s amazing! I totally grew up with nerds and I am one myself. So this books seems like something I would love!
Great review B! This book was super cute and I wish I had read it over the summer! It would’ve made the perfect beach/pool read! I was a little weird about the LARPing, mostly because I find it a little weird, but I think if I had a group of friends (ie my SC gals!) I would totally do it! 🙂
haha, YES, it would have to be the right group of people! But okay… Here’s how I was thinking of it (story time!) — So in fourth grade for my birthday party, we did this “mystery party in a box”. Each person came dressed as their assigned character and we all had to figure out “whodunit” and we were a PART of the mystery, acting it out. I would TOTALLY do that again. I’m not so much into the fantasy worlds like the characters in the book, but I would totally do a murder mystery game-type thing! THAT’S what I want haha, and that’s just what it reminded me of!
No, I’m fairly confident he did!! I think not ALL the time but I remember glasses!!
and now i’m worried i have my nerds mixed up, does he wear glasses?
He does!!!!
Gah, I just loved Logan, especially how he pretty much wore his heart on his sleeves. the glasses didn’t hurt, either. 🙂