The Summer I Became a Nerd Paperback – May 7, 2013

~4/5I really enjoyed this book. Like, a lot. I was expecting to, as well, and it's really nice when I enjoy something as much as I was hoping to.Maddie is a cheerleader, the girlfriend to the quarterback, and hiding that she geeks out over comic books and science fiction and, when she starts doing it, LARPing (Live-Action RolePlaying). When she was younger, she got teased for being a fan of comic books, and decides that she didn't want to feel that way ever again, and so started hiding her geek tendencies and sometimes pretending to like the things that everyone else does.This book was a really fast read. I hadn't even meant to really start it, since I was trying to get through a different book, only to get half-way through this one in one night, and then of course finish it the next morning. Because it went by so quickly, and it was so good that I didn't want to stop.So. I liked Maddie. She was very misguided and much too afraid of what other people think of her, and kept making these stupid mistakes because of those reasons, but I still liked her. I liked being in her head, hearing her thoughts as she dreads and over-thinks things and geeks out over certain things/people. And even while she was being dumb and thinking a bit too much about herself at times, she was also loyal, as best as she could be. And when she finally smarted up, she did a very good job of trying to make up for it.I also very much liked the love interest, Logan. He's a geek, and he's adorkable, and he's sweet. I felt bad for him several times because of how Maddie was treating him, and annoyed when he gave in too easily. But I still liked him and their interactions, and think him and Maddie fit well together. The way they got together, their pre-attraction to each other, it was all just adorable to me.I like Logan's best friend, Dan, who's crude and loud and funny but loyal to his friends. I liked Maddie's best friend, Terra, and also felt bad for her because of what Maddie was doing, although I do think that we could have gotten to know her better, given how little we saw of her. I also really liked Maddie and Logan's parents, who we saw a pretty good amount of. I liked what I saw of Maddie's brother, and would have liked to have seen him more.I loved all of the geeky things. I liked the fangirling, and the radio show, and the comic book store, and the comics, and the LARPing was awesome.For some reason I always like reading stories when one of the characters, usually the girl, already has a boyfriend/girlfriend, but one who they don't really get along with for some reason. And so I liked the situation that Maddie was in, as well as the somewhat similar one that Logan was in.So, pretty much, I really liked this book. Kind of loved it, even. I'll probably end up re-reading/skimming it in the future for the best scenes (i.e. the romantic ones), and I will definitely be picking up Miller's future books.[This review is also available on my blog.]

It all started with a Halloween costume contest in Junior High. Maddie dressed as her favorite comic book character and she thought she was the bee's knees. She put a lot of time and effort into her costume and was sure she was going to blow every one's minds. Instead, she got called a dork and was laughed off the stage. Ever since then she has kept her Geek life secret, hidden. She has put a lot of effort into out-distancing her past. Now in High School she is popular, she's dating the quarterback and no one knows about her double life. She goes to great pains to keep it all hidden. She subscribes on line and downloads her comics, so no one will find out she reads comics. All that goes south when she is expecting the final issue to her favorite comic to come in the mail, which was available only in printed copy, but shipping has been delayed 5 - 7 weeks. Knowing she can't wait that long, she decides to brave the local comic book store, but not before putting on a hat and glasses so no one will see her. She gets to the store and like an adolescent trying to get an adult to buy them beer, she tries to get some guy to buy the comic for her so she doesn't have to set foot in the store. She offers him $10.00 and he tries to extort more money. When she refuses, he goes into the store, but when he comes out, he taunts her with an issue of the very comic she is looking for. He tells her she better buck up and go in the shop herself because there is only one copy left. With her reputation hanging in the balance, she braves the comic store, but can't locate the book on the rack. When she asks for assistance, she recognizes the guy behind the counter, Logan Scott, who she has always had a bit of a crush on. She panics hoping he won't recognize her, but he asks if he knows her to which she replies she's from out of town. As it turns out, the last issue is his issue, but after bantering back and forth, he lets her borrow the book. Since the shop is closing in a couple hours, he gives her his phone number so she can call once she's done reading it to make arrangements to return the comic. Maddie keeps a comic journal. Once she's read the comic, she documents her thoughts about it in a journal. (An idea I think I am going to try for books since sometimes I read them and don't review for weeks. It will help keep things fresh in my mind I think.) After reading the comic and writing in her journal, she takes out the paper to call Logan to make arrangements to return the book, but she sees he has written a note saying, "I know your secret identity." And so it begins. Her carefully crafted persona might be revealed because she was seen and recognized. If word gets out, her life will be ruined.

I was looking for a nice, light summery book to read and this one happened to catch my eye. And I ended up loving it!I loved that this was such a geeky book. It was making me want to go and buy tonnes of comics and spend hours playing video games. But I was too hooked into the story to do all of that.So our main character Madelyne is popular. But she's a massive geek at heart. She hides all of this because she thinks her friends will outcast her for being geeky. At first, I was pretty annoyed with Madelyne for hiding this part of her and pretending to be someone else. I gradually started to understand why she did it, but I was still annoyed at her for not being true to herself. It meant she was constantly lying to her friends and watching her back so that she didn't get caught. But I actually did like her. She was such a brilliant character.And then Logan walks into her world. Logan is everything Madelyne wishes she could be. He's a geek and he doesn't care what other people think. He's sweet, funny, charming and extremely geeky (which I loved so much!). His family owns a comic book store where he works and it's also where he and Maddie have their first encounter.I loved Maddie and Logan together. He brought out the best in her and made her more herself. He gradually got her to come out of her shell and embrace her inner geek. I loved seeing when they were out together LARPing or hanging around at the comic book store. They were just so perfect.So Logan's best friend (who's name has slipped my mind right now, but I'm pretty sure it begins with a D) was awesome too! He was hilarious! He had some good advice for Maddie and he helped her along the way.This was such an adorable read. I was smiling and laughing most of the way through this book (although the laughing had to be kept to a minimum since I was up until 2am reading it). But I just couldn't get enough of this book or the characters. It was so cute!If you're looking for a light, summer read then this is definitely a book I recommend.

If you know me you'll know that I love nerdy contemporary YA, so as soon as I heard about The Summer I Became a Nerd I freaked out and bought it straight away and I'm so glad that I did! This was such a `Jess book' and I loved it so much that it's now up there as one of my favourite contemporaries.Like her favourite superhero's Maddie has a secret identity - popular cheerleader by day, nerdy comic book lover by night. Summer is Maddie's favourite time of year, she gets a break from school and from being the person everyone expects her to be, can catch up on her TBR list and chat on online fan forums to her hearts content. I loved Maddie from the moment I found out that she keeps a comic book journal to write down her thoughts and favourite quotes! I could understand her wanting to keep her nerdy side a secret - although my friends knew about my nerdy ways when I was at school I was teased for it and know first-hand that that's no fun. I love this book for busting stereotypes and Leah Rae Miller for creating a heroine who's a cheerleader but who also loves comic books with a passion. Basically I thought that Maddie was pretty freakin' awesome and only wished that she had the confidence to share her awesomeness with the rest of the world.During a secret mission to the local comic book store for the latest issue of her favourite comic - The Super Ones #400 - Maddie runs into Logan the cute nerdy guy from school who works there. Logan quickly sees through Maddie's poor disguise and the two soon start regularly hanging out as Logan introduces Maddie to the world of nerd and teaches her to embrace her inner geek. Sweet, nerdy, boy next door types are my favourite, so I fell for Logan at Flash speed. Maddie and Logan's romance was so adorbs and is full of super cute moments. A personal favourite of mine was when they showed each other their very best happy dance. You see! Isn't that adorable!? This book was full of moments like this one that made my cheeks hurt from the big goofy grin I wore during every page of this book.The Summer I Became a Nerd is full of nerdy references that are worked into the story that you'll appreciate if you're into the same things as Maddie. I also enjoyed learning more about LARPing (live action role play) which is something I didn't know a whole lot about before reading this book. Now I definitely want to take part in something like it in the future because it sounded like so much fun!Overall I pretty much loved everything about this book. It was a cute, fun, summer read packed full of awesome nerdy goodness and the important message of being true to who you are. The Summer I Became a Nerd is without a doubt one of my favourite reads of the summer so far!

I bought The Summer I Became a Nerd as a fun and easy summer read, having liked Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell and Geek Girl by Holly Smale.While it was pretty fun, there were some key elements that just made it really lacking for me.First, the nerdiness: I don't know that much about comics, but I felt that the whole nerdy thing was just kind of fake. (Though the LARPing was fun.) So, if you're looking for something nerdy, then look elsewhere.Secondly, the romance. I really wanted to like Logan, but I just couldn't. Every time Maddie saw him she went on about how 'cute' and 'dorky' he was. He was not a well-rounded character; I felt like his main character trait was being a dork. Every he started to come to life for me, he said something 'totally adorkable' and the whole thing just broke apart. What I was expecting was something more along the lines of Fangirl, or Skin Deep, or Geek Girl, but this was just...no.Thirdly, the storyline and characters. Maddie was okay as a narrator, but it seemed half the other characters (her brother, Ro, Logan's friend, Dan, Logan's mum) were there just to help Maddie along.Altogether, it was a nice read, and I'll be looking out for Leah Rae Miller in the future, but there are some flaws that just let it down. Other books that I would suggest are any of those that I have mentioned, as well as Eleanor & Park.

I loved it! I read it in the space of a few hours. It was the perfect summer read. The perfect way to start off my holiday.It has romance and comic books and other geekery. It appeared because I still blush every time I buy a comic book, convinced I'll be denounced as a fraud. It was perfect story about remembering to be yourself and your true friends will accept you as long as you're a good friend to them too.

This book was cheap and looked a bit different so I bought it but when I decided to read it, I wasn't so sure. Thankfully it was better than I expected. There were times when I wanted to shake the protagonist and tell her to stop being stupid, but that's quite a brave thing for an author to do. It was realistic and it was well written enough that I still felt sympathy and could understand her actions. Definitely recommend it.