Get ready for a Renaissance Faire, Dungeons & Dragons, peeing in the woods, and twenty-sided dice! Welcome to Into the Wild Nerd Yonder by Julie Halpern.

Jessie Sloan is best friends with Char and Bizza as she begins her sophomore year of high school, and she’s been close with them forever. Jessie is a bit of an odd duck who loves wearing her own home made skirts, and her goal this year is to make enough skirts out of different fabrics so she never has to rewear a skirt.

But things between her and her friends aren’t peachy keen. Jessie is actually quite frustrated that her friends want to spend all of their time hanging out with her brother Barrett and his punk rock band friends at the local Denny’s, which is full of smoke and really boring conversation.

Bizza and Char transform into punk girls and spend the beginning of their new school year getting close with the punk boys, including Van: the guy who Jessie’s been crushing on for a long time. Bit he’s Bizza’s boy now, thanks to her transformation.

Jessie’s disappointed to find herself alone for what should have been a great school year. Rather than wallow in her own pity, though, Jessie chooses to befriend Dottie, the weird girl in her study hall. And we’re not just talking weird. We’re talking Weird — one of those kids who’s been labeled the weird one since elementary school. But once Jessie strikes up conversation, she really begins liking Dottie, who she learns has been dating a guy for quite a long time and is mega involved in the game Dungeons and Dragons with a slew of other kids at school. Will Jessie decide to give in and become a mega-nerd or will she spend her year trying to maintain her old, though beaten, friendships?

Into the Wild Nerd Yonder is a very, very funny book. Jessie encompasses the perfect high school tone: she is funny, culturally-aware (and a total book nerd who kept talking about books like Life as We Knew It and Elsewhere), sarcastic, and 100% realistic. She embraces her inner nerd prior to meeting Dottie and her D&D playing crew, as we see with her skirt obsession. But you know that obsession? It’s much more than Jessie thinks; it’s proof she has an enviable and valuable skill and knowledge that she’s actually appreciated for and which she can use to enjoy herself.

Beyond the strength of Jessie’s character is the development of a number of strong, well-executed subplots. Bizza and Van’s developing relationship leaves readers wondering what’s going on, seeing they begin getting very close immediately after Jessie herself had a tender moment with him. Is he cheating on Jessie or is he using Bizza? When Bizza is left friendless, she must turn to Jessie to escort her to a clinic …. to be tested for a possible STD. The pacing, dialog, and delicate atmosphere between Jessie and Bizza in this plot point were pitch perfect and absolutely believable. But you know what was best about it? It was not at all contrived, nor a plot aspect upon which characters dwell, nor something that makes readers roll their eyes in utter frustration. Instead, it’s quite compelling and the emotions Jessie and the other characters display are authentic. It doesn’t become all consuming.

Jessie’s relationship with her parents and her brother Barrett are fresh in the wake of terrible parents that seem to be invading YA lit. I found the relationship that developed between Jessie and Henry — one of the D&D boys — to be very sweet and their moment together at the Renaissance Faire tender and a bit drool-worthy. Oh, and also hilarious.

One of the issues that stuck in my head when I finished the book is one I am eager to discuss or hear opinions on, both those of the YA judging panel and our readers. It seemed to me in the end that Jessie becomes completely okay with who she is, and she embraces her multiple sides, her dorkiness, and her comfort with being uncomfortable. She makes it clear throughout the book she doesn’t aim to change anyone, which is precisely why her relationships with Bizza and Char stand as they do. But Jessie sure did judge Henry’s clothing choices … and in doing so, she drops many hints about him changing his style, especially since his mom did a poor job dressing him. At the very end, there is a moment when Jessie comments on him changing from sneakers to Chucks, thanks to her shopping trip. I almost felt like she took a back step here and decided to change Henry; she liked him, but she liked him more when she made his apparel choices so that he’d be less dorky and more to her acceptable standards.

Aside from that criticism and flaw in Jessie’s otherwise enviable character, I spent a long time thinking about audience. I really enjoyed this book, but I also am able to look at it from a perspective outside of high school and one in which I am widely-read and somewhat (emphasis on somewhat) culturally-aware. While Jessie will absolutely speak to teen readers who embrace themselves and who they are, I wrestled with how much broad appeal this title will have. It is a very funny book, but the humor is subtle. Good teen readers will eat this book up, though your average reader may not enjoy the subtlety. For readalikes, coming to my mind are Pete Hautman’s How to Steal a Car (the humor!), Abby McDonald’s Sophomore Switch (the fitting-in-without-friends factor), Donna Freita’s The Possibilities of Sainthood (loving and embracing who you are), and Melissa Walker’s Violet on the Runway or Lovestruck Summer (self-assured but humorous and wonderfully sarcastic leading girls). You know, that’s great company!

Thanks to the YA Fiction Cybils Panel for such a fantastic title on the short list. I hope that Halpern sees her book getting a ton of attention, as it is well-deserved. I eagerly await her next title (and I plan on going back to read her first book).

* These are entirely my opinions, not the rest of the judging committee’s.