

Title: The Summer I Became A Nerd
Author: Leah Rae Miller
Publisher: Entangled Teen
Pages: 326 e-book
My Rating: 5/5 stars
Source: I received a copy of this e-book as part of this blog tour in exchange for an honest and thoughtful review
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.
Every once in a while I stumble across a book that I fall absolutely head over heels in love with. A book that makes me grin, smile, swoon, and yes, even snort over the course of reading it. It is one of those books that makes me feel all of those feelings from high school again…the good AND the bad; the type of book that reminds me exactly why I love to read Young Adult books. A few days ago, I had the absolute pleasure of reading The Summer I Became a Nerd by Leah Rae Miller and people, it is TOTALLY one of those books for me. I loved the message behind this book for one. It’s all about staying true to yourself and not being afraid to be you which is something I’m all about. Second we have an extraordinary set of characters that were so lively, hilarious, and real. I loved the main character, Maddie, I loved the adorkable crush, Logan, and I even loved the spastic friend of the adorkable crush, Dan. Then we have the fact that this book celebrates nerdom in all of its wonderful glory. Add this all together and it’s a miracle I made it through The Summer I Became A Nerd without giving it a giant hug. Okay…so maybe that did happen while I was reading but the point is, this was such a fun, enjoyable book that spoke to the nerd-girl in me and I have a hunch you will all love it as well.
Seventeen-year-old Maddie is living a double life. There is the side of her that everyone at school sees; the perfect looking cheerleader who dates the football star and listens to Top 40 music but then behind closed (and probably double-locked) doors is a nerd-girl just dying to be set free. She loves comic books, has a secret crush on a nerd-boy, and loves listening to Awesome Logan on the college radio station. I absolutely adored Maddie and not only because she was a fellow dork. First, I could understand where she was coming from. I know that high school can be brutal ESPECIALLY if you don’t fit in, if you happen to like different stuff, or if you don’t conform to the “norm”. Unfortunately for Maddie, she has allowed her popular-girl status to rule her life. Terrified of everyone at school finding out about her nerdish hobbies, Maddie completely shuts that side of herself off from everyone else. While I was a lot more open with my nerdiness in high school, I could still understand where this was coming from. Kids can be mean and brutal and opening yourself up to that kind of judgment is tough as heck. As the book progressed and we were able to see a lot more of this nerd-side of Maddie, I fell in love, well I fell in even more love. She was so funny. And spunky. And dorky. And relatable. And a lot of what I saw in my high school self. The journey Maddie takes over the course of this book is not easy. She stumbles and makes mistakes while trying to figure out how to balance the popular side with the dorky side but I think she becomes so much more confident and sure of herself by the end. Since I am a fan of character growth, especially if that growth includes becoming a proud nerd, it should be no surprise that I freaking loved this aspect of the book.
Maddie’s awesome character was joined by a set of secondary characters that I loved to absolute pieces! Awesome Logan a.k.a. the adorkable, funny, quirky, swoon-worthy nerd-boy that Maddie hangs out with throughout the book was one of my favorite parts of this book. He wasn’t perfect (trust me, he had his moody moments) but that’s what I liked so much about him. I found him to be very realistic and the relationship between him and Maddie had me grinning from ear-to-ear every time they were together and not completely screwing it up (which, by the way, happens A LOT considering Maddie is in fact still dating the football star AND keeping her nerdy side a secret). Logan has a best friend, Dan The Man who, in my opinion, needs his own book. Dan is like every hardcore nerd you’ve ever encountered in your life. He says the most off the wall stuff, goes on weird tangents all the time, and everything he does is so odd and over the top but it was this mixed with his fierce loyalty to Logan that made him so enjoyable and endearing. Along the way, we also meet Maddie’s best friend and fellow popular girl, Terra, who I expected not to like but really ended up enjoying. Overall, characterization in this book couldn’t be any more spot-on for me. It was this big, jumbled mix of quirky, fun, hilarious characters that all seemed to work so well together.
One thing that needs to be brought up is all of the nerding that went on in this book. I am a nerd and I am proud of it. In fact I have a whole blog dedicated to my nerd-girl hobbies like reading and fan-girling over books & authors so it is by no coincidence that I would love a book that celebrates a different but still totally awesome degree of nerdom. I can’t say I have ever read a comic book and I’ve never been LARPing (although that is something I would most definitely want to do one day!) but I can still appreciate it. Maddie so clearly loves her comics, it’s what she’s passionate about so I soon found myself becoming more and more passionate about it too. Seeing this whole other side of nerdiness was so much fun to experience and even though it is slightly different from my form of nerdiness, all of the giddy, exciting, on the verge of really strange feelings were the same.
The Summer I Became A Nerd proved to be an insta-favorite of mine. Maddie’s struggle to be true to herself is a universal issue that Leah executed so well but the love-festing of nerdiness was like the extra whipped cream on top. The nerd-girl in me connected with this book, fell in love with this book, and is now ordering the rest of you fellow nerds to give it a shot because you will not be disappointed!
GIVEAWAY:
3 lucky winners will receive an e-book of The Summer I Became A Nerd by Leah Rae Miller. Be sure to follow this link to enter the Rafflecopter form. The giveaway is international!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Mother, wife, and YA author living on a windy hill in Natchitoches, Louisiana. I love fuzzy socks, comic books, cherry coke, and brand new office supplies. THE SUMMER I BECAME A NERD coming Summer 2013 from Entangled Teen. Stay cool!
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FOLLOW THE BLOG TOUR:
5/6/2013-Nose Graze-http://www.nosegraze.com/
5/6/2013-Rainy Day Ramblings-http://www.rainydayramblings.com/
5/7/2013-Jenuine Cupcakes-http://jenuinecupcakes.blogspot.com/
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5/8/2013-A Backwards Story-http://abackwardsstory.blogspot.com/
5/9/2013-Kate’s Tales of Books and Bands-http://talesofbooksandbands.com/
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5/15/2013-A Dream Within a Dream-http://adreamwithindream.blogspot.com/
5/15/2013-My Reading Room-http://myreadingroom-crystal.blogspot.com/
5/16/2013-Obsession With Books-http://obsessionwithbooks.blogspot.com/
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5/17/2013-Chocolate Coated Reviews-http://chocolatecoatedreviews.blogspot.com/
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