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The Boyfriend App

ebook
2 of 2 copies available
2 of 2 copies available

For fans of smart romantic comedies, this is a clever Cinderella story with a tech twist.

When Public Corporation, a giant tech company, announces a contest for the best app developed by a high school student—with $200,000 in prize money—computer whiz Audrey McCarthy is all in. Audrey's been searching for her one ticket out of town ever since her dad died and her best friend, perfect and popular Blake Dawkins, turned into her worst nightmare—and this scholarship may be it.

Audrey comes up with an idea so simple, yet so brilliant, she can't believe it hasn't been done before: the Boyfriend App. With a simple touch of the screen, romance blooms among the unlikeliest couples at school—and people start to take notice. But it's not quite enough.

To beat out the competition, Audrey will have to dig deeper—right into a scandal that would rock Public to its core. Launched into unexpected fame and passionately kissed by the hottest guys in school, Audrey finds that her invention has thrown her life into complete chaos . . . but can it bring her true love?

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  • Reviews

    • Publisher's Weekly

      April 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 $200,000 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 appâand 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 13âup. Agent: Brenda Bowen, Sanford J. Greenburger Associates.

    • School Library Journal

      June 1, 2013

      Gr 8 Up-Audrey McCarthy's tech-savvy and humorous voice carries readers through the improbable events of her senior year. Ever since her father died, money has been tight, and winning the $200,000 scholarship offered by Public Corporation for the most popular app would mean that she could afford college. Audrey builds the Boyfriend App, which uses information from questionnaires to send a phone message when a user comes within 100 yards of a "perfect match." After Audrey's cousin tweets the surprising results of her successful match to thousands of followers of her fashion blog, one message is retweeted by Public's spokesperson and teen pop star, Danny Beaton. The Boyfriend App soars temporarily before a swift decline from failed matches. Then Audrey investigates a strange buzzing from her buyPhone and hacks into Public's site. She learns that the company has installed secret software that emits sounds that stimulate feel-good hormones when teens come near a Public store or download music from buyJams, causing them to purchase more. Adapting this "falling in love" phenomenon, Audrey launches the Boyfriend App 2.0, with instant success. When she successfully deploys it against Beaton during a concert, his kiss wins her the contest. Unfortunately, Public threatens to ruin Audrey if she reveals the truth. With the help of some powerful allies, the teen not only gets to college without Public's money, but also finds romance with an app. Underneath unlikely plot developments lie some serious questions about personal relationships and corporate power, but they never overburden the story's lighter and humorous moments. This fast-paced, clever romance with a smart, likable narrator should find a place in most libraries.-Kathy Piehl, Minnesota State University, Mankato

      Copyright 2013 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

    • Kirkus

      March 15, 2013
      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)

      COPYRIGHT(2013) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Formats

  • Kindle Book
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  • EPUB ebook

Languages

  • English

Levels

  • ATOS Level:5.8
  • Interest Level:9-12(UG)
  • Text Difficulty:4

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