***** (5 out of 5)
The Summer I Became a Nerd by Leah Rae Miller
I’m not gonna lie, I needed this book. I have been soooo stressed and busy lately I could feel myself start to spiral. Two weekends ago we went to Nebraska, last weekend we went to Oregon, this weekend we are going to Vegas, and 4 days after we get back, we leave for Germany. Its an understatement to say we have a lot going on. On top of that I am procrastinating writing a review for Lion Heart, because I don’t know what to say, and Astrologer’s Proof because I haven’t even read it yet.
Yesterday, while hiding from my to-do list, (i.e. procrastinating) I was skimming through some blogs when I found a post about The Summer I Became a Nerd by Book Princess Reviews. I read the first paragraph of the synopsis, skipped the second (because they usually reveal too much) and then read Mandy’s first paragraph:
I didn’t even bother reading the rest of her post. Those two paragraphs were all it took to ensnare me. I downloaded the book and started reading it immediately. I was leaving work so I read for the two minutes it took me to get to my car then I had to wait till I got home.
Its a good thing this book is short-ish because I could not put it down. I stopped reading only for dinner and my softball game. I even read while we hung out in the parking lot, drinking beers before the game. I read until 1 am, when I finished the book. So I pretty much read from 4 to 1. Its been a while since I binge-read that hard.
The Summer I Became a Nerd is about Maddie, who is a closet nerd. She fears the rejection of her peers if they were to find out about her nerdiness. On the outside she is your typical cheerleader dating the quarterback, but on the inside she is all about comics. It makes me sad to think that there are girls that feel like they have to hide who they are because it isn’t socially acceptable, but I get it. I have never completely hid that side of me, but I don’t usually flaunt it either.
I have two groups of friends; my sports buddies and my nerd buddies. With my nerd buddies I can be whoever I want. We play D&D and they don’t care if I watch the big game at the same time. They accept both sides of me. But my sports buddies aren’t as open. They know I’m nerdy but they don’t know the extent, and they tend to make fun of me if I get too intense about it. They don’t make fun of me in a mean way, more of a big brother sort of teasing way. They will watch all the new Marvel movies, but they don’t understand how people can enjoy reading.
This is why I LOVE e-readers. For some reason it is socially acceptable to play on your phone and ignore everyone while watching the big game or getting beers before our league games, yet if I pull out a book, everyone accuses me of being anti-social and makes fun of me for reading. But if I read on my phone no one says anything. They just assume I am playing games, texting, or whatnot. Its awesome!
This book not only appealed to me because I was able to relate to it, but it appealed to me because it was a light, fun, easy read. When I am spiraling I tend to gravitate toward romance novels and cliche teenage novels. The Summer I Became a Nerd definitely falls into the later category. Its got all the cheesy, classic, teenage-summer-love tropes you could ever want. And I absolutely loved it! Like I said before, I could not put it down. It was the absolute perfect book that I needed yesterday. I can’t wait to read the sequel.
Thank you Mandy for your post! I needed this book so much ❤ I can see why it is your favorite contemporary of ALL TIME. (and I did go back and finish reading your post after I finished the book)
