The Boyfriend App

Sise, Katie. The Boyfriend App.
30 April 2013, Balzer and Bray

Since her father's death in her former best friend father's factory, Audrey has retreated from her popular existence and takes solace in coding and hanging with a geeky crowd. She and her mother are struggling to make ends meet; her mother is the lunch lady in her school, a fact which her former best friend Blake never lets her forget. When Public Corporation announces a contest for an app, Audrey sees it as a way to be able to afford college. She starts with an app that uses a questionnaire to help people find their match when that person's cell phone is near theirs. It has some success, but when the matches don't always work, the app sinks in popularity. When Audrey uncovers the secret behind Public Corporation's success, she creates an app that uses the same principal to get someone to fall in love with the person who activates a sound frequency using The Boyfriend App 2.0. Things get crazy, Audrey gets in a fair amount of trouble, but some things about her past get resolved as well.
Strengths: I liked that Audrey was a girl geek and interested in computers-- there need to be more books about girls like that! I couldn't stop reading this one, even when it got technical. I'd definitely buy for a high school library.
Weaknesses: Gets a bit over the top, and the computer details slow the story down. While I enjoyed it, it doesn't feel like a good fit for my readers.