3.5 stars 
 I had no idea that a book in which LARPing receives so much page time could be so endearing and fun. The Summer I Became a Nerd is lighter fair done right. While it's not breaking any ground, there's a lot of merit in reading a breezy book that's so engaging. I really enjoyed Maddie's journey of coming to terms that it's okay to like the things she likes and being okay with that being against the grain. If you prefer your YA to be more "mature" and less teenage, then you'll probably not like The Summer I Became a Nerd, but I'd give this to teens (and middle-schoolers) in a heartbeat. Nerdy sort of folks will appreciate the various references and homages (I'm sure I didn't catch the majority of them because I'm not a science fiction enthusiast) as well. I also loved that the former boyfriend wasn't a bad guy in order for the new love interest to be the "right" guy (which happens a lot in this sort of YA). Their relationship instead just ran its course, as happens, especially in the teen years. 
 There are some fairly predictable moments, and I would have liked to have seen the friendships explored a bit further, as the resolution to that conflict was really fast, but that didn't detract from my enjoyment of it. 
 I wrote a longer review on Clear Eyes, Full Shelves - http://cleareyesfullshelves.com/blog/...