“It’s finally cool to be a nerd,” touts this title in the Nerd Culture series (4 titles) before explaining the hobby of role-playing to curious readers and those who already dabble. The high/low text sets an upbeat mood with an introduction to the popularity of nerd culture and opportunities in community building through such events as fandoms and conventions. Individual chapters dive deeper, first explaining role-playing and cosplay, with a brief history of pretending to be characters—from the origins of Halloween to the 1950s superheroes craze to the emergence of table-top role-playing games. Other chapters describe types of role-playing and cosplay, such as reenactments, Renaissance fairs, and live-action role-playing, and include tips on character creation. Photos of young people in costume wielding related accessories add fun inspiration.

Gr 5-8–Fandoms exist for almost every topic, from classics like the fantasy and science fiction genres to Japanese popular culture and DIY creations, and a shared excitement around these subjects can be found in this series. Each title opens with an introduction about “living the nerdy life” before leading into specifics. Each title introduces vocabulary related to the fandom via a “nerd lingo” page, and “nerdy tips” guide the readers who are just getting involved. Paragraphs of informative text are accompanied by full-page images and graphics. The final page has a glossary, additional resources, and an index. While the variety of topics for the ­series provides a good overview for each title, the amount of information makes it more accessible for older readers. ­VERDICT Good overview of fandom culture for ­middle school readers.