Love, Decoded

January 15, 2022
High school student Gigi Wong knows she has what it takes to be the best, so it's frustrating that no one seems to expect much from her. Chinese American Gigi's loving, protective parents set high standards for her older brother, but they are content with their daughter's simply being herself. Her Great-Aunt Rose, a successful matchmaker training Gigi to continue the family legacy, is hesitant about Gigi's attempts to digitize her business and advises Gigi to be cautious with using her Matchmaker 3000 app to make client matches. Her best friend, Kyle, who is Chinese and White, assures her that she's already incredible, but Gigi--a top student at her elite New York prep school, co-editor of the school magazine, and volunteer peer mentor--is determined to prove herself, and she sees an opportunity through a statewide coding contest. Inspired by her Filipino mentee, Etta, who tells her how hard it is to make friends as a transfer student, Gigi develops Quizzlet, an app that matches users with potential friends based on compatibility. This contemporary retelling of Emma aptly shifts the focus of Austen's well-meaning, occasionally thoughtless protagonist away from romantic meddling and toward personal achievement without losing the spirit of the original novel. 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. (Fiction. 12-18)

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January 24, 2022
Yen offers a satisfying spin-off to A Taste for Love in this fast-paced Emma update, which follows James Wong’s younger sister, Gigi. Wealthy, perfectionistic Chinese American high school junior Gigi Wong, 17, “one of the most popular girls” at an elite Upper East Side prep school, has it all: good grades and a full portfolio of extracurriculars; 10 years of best friendship with loyal neighbor Kyle Miller, who is half-Chinese and white-passing; a sweet mentee and enthusiastic new friend in Etta Santos, who is Filipinx; and an expected post–Ivy League future inheriting her great-aunt Rose’s matchmaking business. But when a statewide coding contest consumes Gigi’s waking hours and awakens latent competitiveness with former friend Anna Tam, the resulting app, intended to help students make friends based on similar quiz answers, causes consequences both unintended and unforeseen. Allusions to contemporary media, fashion brands, and familiar New York City eateries ground the narrative firmly in the present, as themes of familial pressure, purpose vs. passion, and a friends-to-lovers romance prove timeless. Ages 12–up. Agent: Jessica Watterson, Sandra Dijkstra.

February 15, 2022
Grades 9-12 Gigi Wong strives to be the perfect student, daughter, and friend. She has high standards for herself, even when her parents and best friend, Kyle, do not expect perfection. When Gigi meets Etta, the new loud, unfashionable, but exceptionally nice student, she tries to help Etta fit in and find friends. However, Gigi's tactics are unsuccessful, so she creates an app that serves two purposes: to help Etta find friends and to win a contest that will hopefully land her a prestigious internship. Excited, she asks a few friends to test it out, but after someone forwards the app to more students, they start using it for unethical reasons, and trouble ensues. In this stand-alone continuation of 2021's A Taste for Love, Yen wonderfully mixes the plot of Jane Austen's Emma with a modern heroine who loves to program. This combination creates an exceptionally blended novel featuring romance, friendship, and computer programming that young adult readers will enjoy.

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March 1, 2022

Gr 9 Up-Gigi strives for the best, whether it's perfecting a database for Auntie Rose's matchmaking business or being impeccable in her school activities. This year, Gigi finally has the chance to prove her worth as a coder when her teacher announces an app writing competition. However, when the new transfer student, Etta, confesses to having trouble making friends, Gigi creates a friendship matchmaking app that goes a little too viral, imploding all of her important relationships, including the one with her best friend, Kyle. Inspired by Jane Austen's Emma, Yen creates a romance of errors (set in the same world as A Taste for Love) as Gigi navigates love and friendship. Gigi is a people pleaser who can't say "no," a quality that many teens will find relatable. As her relationships fall apart, Gigi sees her lack of honest communication as the driving force for the mishaps with her friends and family. The characters' connections are well written, though readers may want additional time to immerse themselves in backstory and development. While readers will be screaming for more Kyle and Gigi moments on page, the ending is ultimately satisfying. Gigi is Chinese, Kyle is biracial (Chinese and white), and Etta is Filipina. VERDICT For admirers of Lyla Lee or shows like Indian Matchmaking, this lighthearted romp is guaranteed to lift spirits.-Emily Walker

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