If You, Then Me by Yvonne Woon tells the story of Xia Chan’s sophomore year at an elite boarding school for coding prodigies. Her impressive programming abilities and invention of an AI she nicknames Wiser earn her a spot at the institution. She moves from her small town in Massachusetts with her small life—homework, chores, and chatting with an online pen pal to bustling Silicon Valley, California where her life is anything but dull. She meets new friends, a new love interest, and her coding idol, Mitzy. Mitzy promises to introduce her to the shiny life of being a tech founder, but Xia must decide if following that path is right for her. 

I enjoyed this book. Learning about what goes on behind closed doors in the tech industry was really intriguing. I also appreciated that the main character was an Asian-American woman programmer, as you don’t see many of those. That said, Xia made decisions throughout the book that made her less of a likable character. 

I would recommend this book. It was a fun read with some good messages. Those who enjoy coding and programming should definitely look into this one. – Sophie Cornish