The Summer I Became a Nerd by Leah Rae Miller – a Review

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The Summer I Became a Nerd by Leah Rae Miller is not another YA story, let me clarify that right from the beginning.  When it’s this well written, forget the genre and submit to the story like I did.  Madelyne Jean Summers is a closet comic book/superhero junkie who buried her inner nerd after suffering a junior high school Halloween costume humiliation.  Five years later, Maddie is popular, dating the equally popular quarterback…and hating herself in the meantime.

I’m in a constant state of “no one can know,” and it sucks.

Desperate for the latest edition of The Super Ones #400, which was oversold (and currently on back order), Maddie dons her best “incognito ensemble” and ventures out to The Phoenix, aka nerd nirvana, to obtain her copy (it’s not like she can wait!), but is recognized by Logan Scott…her geek idol.  BUSTED!  In a panic that she will be “outed”, Maddie takes all kinds of measures to ensure Logan’s silence.  While “honesty is the best policy” and other lines of that ilk apply, let me remind you that this IS a YA story.  But it’s these experiences that help us to mature and to learn from the hurt that is inevitably caused when the “stacking” takes place:  Lie upon lie upon lie.  I found Maddie to be very relatable with a good head on her shoulders.  Yes, she allowed situations to override her common sense, but as a reader (and a mother) I was relieved when she let her conscience be her guide; before things spun out of control.         

Not only did Ms. Miller mention Robert Pattinson 2% into the dang book, of course I screamed and swooned, but the passion Maddie displayed for the pop culture was genuine and called to my own inner nerd.  I was Maddie’s sister of the heart and champion from the onset.  Purposeful choice of verbs, “dash”, “super-run” or achieving the second floor of her home by “leaps and bounds” were just spot-on and not at all cheesy, I swear!  There was a hypothetical battle scenario involving Darth Vader and Lord Voldemort that was clearly wrong, but that’s for you to decide…I guess?!  It was this enthusiasm, this contagious spirit of hers that made me cheerfully accept her “nuances”.

I twist my blond hair into a messy bun on the top of my head.  Can’t have any tendrils escaping while I’m reading and blocking my view.

You laugh…I high-five!!! 

I just looooooved this book.  Not only did it appeal to my eternal teenager, but it has a sweet, true love story (“He smiles a real smile.  This one is so honest and bright it’s almost blinding in its cuteness.”), a supporting cast of characters so endearing you wished they had more lines (I read the exchange between Dan and the burp scene to my husband and daughters!), an explanation to LARP of Ages (live-action role playing…it’s so popular!), but also of life’s lessons. 

From the FlyLeaf Review:
“An extremely adorkable read about being comfortable in your own skin.”

Awwwww….I couldn’t have said it any better. 

Reviewed by Carmen

Copy provided by Publisher