Publishers Weekly
04/29/2013
Audrey McCarthy and her best friend Blake were popular as freshmen, but by senior year, Blake has turned mean, and Audrey's only friends are the computer geeks that Blake and her posse call trogs, short for troglodytes. But it's the trogs' turn to shine when the Public Company (think Apple plus Facebook) announces an app contest, with a ,000 prize. A talented coder and hacker, Audrey is determined to win. Her first app, a boyfriend finder, starts strong, but fizzles when the couples it's brought together start breaking up. Then comes version 2.0, which builds on the underhanded way Public keeps teens connected to its products. Debut author Sise makes app design fun and approachable, while adding a pinch of caprice into the storyline. Audrey's relationship with adorable fellow-trog Aidan evolves at a slow pace, especially compared to the speed with which the mayhem and scandal result from Audrey's app—and what she discovers about Public. But Sise creates a clever, independent-minded heroine, while exploring the drawbacks of modern technology, and offering painful insight into friendships gone sour. Ages 13–up. Agent: Brenda Bowen, Sanford J. Greenburger Associates. (May)
From the Publisher
Sise creates a clever, independent-minded heroine, while exploring the drawbacks of modern technology.” — Publishers Weekly
“[A] fast-paced, clever romance with a smart, likable narrator.” — School Library Journal
“Sexy, irresistible, page-turning fun. You’re going to want a boyfriend app—right now!” — Sarah Mlynowski, bestselling author of TEN THINGS WE DID (AND PROBABLY SHOULDN'T HAVE)
Sarah Mlynowski
Sexy, irresistible, page-turning fun. You’re going to want a boyfriend app—right now!
Kirkus Reviews
What starts as a geek-girl romantic comedy turns into an implausible techno-thriller. When Public, an Apple-like tech giant responsible for social networking site Public Party and the omnipresent buyPhone, announces an app-building contest for high school students, computer-savvy Audrey creates the Boyfriend App to match users with potential dates. After the app successfully pairs her fashion-blogger cousin Lindsay with Audrey's fellow geek Nigit, Lindsay promotes it via Twitter to her audience of thousands. (Luckily for Lindsay, ostensibly religious Nigit doesn't seem to mind when she treats Hindu deities as fashion inspiration). After a brief setback, Audrey discovers a hidden functionality in buyPhones that turns the app into a high-tech love potion: Press a button and point it at a boy and he adores you. (Female users can also point it at a girl, but the only student to do this is a highly stereotyped exchange student whose kiss is portrayed as humiliating.) Public's reaction to Audrey's hacking their phones is suspenseful and engaging, but there are plot holes aplenty. Why does no one else question how the app works? How can every student afford a buyPhone? More disturbing, the ethical implications of users "apping" boys into kissing them are left almost completely unaddressed. Ultimately, too hard to swallow, with too many unanswered questions. (Fiction. 13-16)
