Love, Decoded

For fans of Jenny Han and Jane Austen, a rom-com that s equal parts hilarious and heartfelt about the unexpected consequences of one teen's quest to help her friends find love, from the author of A Taste for Love.

High school junior Gigi Wong strives to be the best. After all, that s what everyone expects of her her parents, friends, and even potential colleges. Thankfully, her best friend, Kyle, is always there to listen with a smile and a delicious bowl of ramen. Still, with her future and her dreams on the line, how is she to stand out when her classmates seem so perfect too?

Her answer comes in the form of an app writing contest. If Gigi can secure the nomination to represent her school, she has a chance at a prestigious tech internship. That s sure to get her applications noticed . . . All she needs is a winning entry.

When transfer student and new friend Etta confides that she s struggling to fit in, it gives Gigi an idea. What if she takes what she s learned from shadowing her aunt Rose, a professional matchmaker, to create a fun friend-making app? Perfect!

In fact, Gigi s app soon goes viral at school. Suddenly, she s the center of attention and a major scandal. She never meant to hurt anyone, let alone Etta and Kyle. Can she save all she worked so hard for and the relationships that mean so much to her?

"The warmth of friendship and family closeness shine through banter-filled dialogue and the characters’ use of food as a love language, with a touch of romance to round out the end. Effortlessly entertaining."  —*Kirkus Reviews

"Yen wonderfully mixes the plot of Jane Austen's Emmawith a modern heroine who loves to program. This combination creates an exceptionally blendednovel featuring romance, friendship, and computer programming that young adult readers willenjoy." —BooklistReviews***

Autorentext
Jennifer Yen is a Taiwanese American author who spends her days healing hearts and her nights writing about love, family, and the power of acceptance. Jennifer believes in the magic of one's imagination, and hopes her stories will bring joy and inspiration to readers. If you find Jennifer wandering around aimlessly, please return her to the nearest milk tea shop.

Follow her on Twitter and Instagram @JenYenWrites.

Klappentext

For fans of Jenny Han and Jane Austen, a rom-com that's equal parts hilarious and heartfelt about the unexpected consequences of one teen's quest to help her friends find love, from the author of A Taste for Love.

Junior year is exhausting. Gigi Wong works hard to make herself the perfect candidate for colleges, the perfect friend, the perfect daughter. But it's hard to stand out when everyone around her appears perfect too. At least her best friend, Kyle, is always there to bring ramen from their favorite restaurant when she needs a break.

But when an acquaintance from one of her volunteer programs transfers to her school, Gigi knows what to do to stand out: she'll create a matchmaking app. She has the know-how, thanks to her coding experience and all those weekends she spent shadowing her great-aunt, a professional matchmaker. Gigi figures she'll help Etta make friends-and win entry to the tech internship competition that is sure to guarantee her college acceptance, all at once. Win-win. Except it doesn't quite go as planned.

Suddenly, Gigi finds herself at the center of a scandal-and hurt feelings. She never meant to hurt anyone, let alone Etta and Kyle. Where did Gigi go wrong? And can she fix the fallout without losing the people who are most important to her?

Zusammenfassung
For fans of Jenny Han and Jane Austen, a rom-com that’s equal parts hilarious and heartfelt about the unexpected consequences of one teen's quest to help her friends find love, from the author of A Taste for Love.

High school junior Gigi Wong strives to be the best. After all, that’s what everyone expects of her—her parents, friends, and even potential colleges. Thankfully, her best friend, Kyle, is always there to listen with a smile and a delicious bowl of ramen. Still, with her future—and her dreams—on the line, how is she to stand out when her classmates seem so perfect too?

Her answer comes in the form of an app writing contest. If Gigi can secure the nomination to represent her school, she has a chance at a prestigious tech internship. That’s sure to get her applications noticed . . . All she needs is a winning entry.

When transfer student and new friend Etta confides that she’s struggling to fit in, it gives Gigi an idea. What if she takes what she’s learned from shadowing her aunt Rose, a professional matchmaker, to create a fun friend-making app? Perfect!

In fact, Gigi’s app soon goes viral at school. Suddenly, she’s the center of attention—and a major scandal. She never meant to hurt anyone, let alone Etta and Kyle. Can she save all she worked so hard for and the relationships that mean so much to her?

Leseprobe

Chapter 1

If love is one of life’s greatest mysteries, then you want the best detective on the case.

Okay, so maybe I’m not the Sherlock Holmes of relationships yet, but it’s only a matter of time. After all, there’s something I know that most people don’t:

Love is amazing, frustrating, and often complicated, but what it isn’t . . . is magic.

It’s science.

Love is facial symmetry, body proportions, and hormones. It’s sizing up the person in front of us in seconds, looking for the right combination of physical features and personality traits we want to pass on to our future children. Love is nothing more than our brains doing math, and unsurprisingly, some people need more help than others.

That’s what my great--aunt Rose tells me, anyway, and she’s one of the best—-or, if you ask her,the best—-matchmakers you’ll find outside of Asia. For her, love comes down to the numbers. Height. Weight. Sun and lunar signs. Your family’s lineage. Howmuch money you make. What zip code you live in. Even how many exes you have. All of those things matter when you’re looking foryour soul mate, the one person who is supposed to be your better half and complete your world.

(I’m not so sure about the last part, but that’s a discussion for another day.)

I admit I’m still new to this whole love thing. The closest I’ve come was watching my brother James fall for his girlfriend, Liza, last summer. Auntie Rose said she knew it was a good match because he went through her “Four Stages of Love”—-confusion, denial, fear, and concession. Considering James hasn’t stopped smiling since they met, I suggested happiness be added as thefifth, but Auntie Rose dismissed it, saying I still have a lot tolearn. Nonetheless, I do come from a distinguished line of skilled “mathematicians,” and there’s no doubt I’ve inherited the matchmaking talent. Several of my friends would still be dating Netflix if it wasn’t for me.

Last year, Auntie Rose decided it was time I start training to take my place as the next generation of matchmakers in the family. Infact, she loves recounting that at just six years old, I pointed to a groomsman and a bridesmaid at a wedding and predicted they would get married. How much of this is true is up for debate, but she’s certain it was a sign of things to come. According to her, all I need is a little time to nurture my matchmaking talent. That’s why I’ve been spending my Saturdays at Rose and Jade, the Asian import and souvenir shop Auntie Rose owns in Chinatown.

This weekend, however, I’m at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I need to choose a painting …