You Had Me at Hello World
Regular price
€18.50
A01=Rona Wang
academic rivals
ambition
apps
Asian American representation
Author_Rona Wang
Category=YFMR
Category=YNMC
Category=YNVU
class difference
coding
competition
creativity
drama
eq_bestseller
eq_childrens
eq_isMigrated=1
eq_isMigrated=2
eq_new_release
eq_nobargain
eq_teenage-young-adult
financial insecurity
first love
fish out of water
girls in STEM
hackathon
immigrants
innovation
love triangle
low income household
microaggressions
MIT
mother-daughter relationship
privilege
racism
rom-com
romantic comedy
sabotage
small town
smart phones
underdog
Product details
- ISBN 9781534488519
- Weight: 390g
- Dimensions: 140 x 210mm
- Publication Date: 15 Jan 2026
- Publisher: Simon & Schuster
- Publication City/Country: US
- Product Form: Hardback
Secure
checkout
Fast Shipping
Easy returns
Jenny Han meets Silicon Valley in this drama-packed debut young adult novel about a Chinese American teen who navigates a high-stakes coding competition, sabotage, and first love when she’s invited to a summer hackathon at MIT.
Sixteen-year-old Charise “Char” Tang is desperate to ditch her dead-end small town. So when she’s invited to a highly selective hackathon at MIT, she seizes the opportunity to jet across the country, spend the summer building an app, and maybe even snag the top prize—a golden ticket to a new life.
When she arrives, she teams up with Khoi Astor, coding wunderkind and creator of last year’s biggest mobile game. Khoi, who has soft eyes and a gentle smile. Khoi, who can make anyone laugh. Khoi, who is easy to fall for…and already dating her camp roommate. If only Char could reprogram her heart to forget about him.
As the competition heats up, so do things between Char and her teammate. But sabotage lurks around every corner, and she soon discovers that the glitzy tech world has a dark, dangerous underbelly.
Sixteen-year-old Charise “Char” Tang is desperate to ditch her dead-end small town. So when she’s invited to a highly selective hackathon at MIT, she seizes the opportunity to jet across the country, spend the summer building an app, and maybe even snag the top prize—a golden ticket to a new life.
When she arrives, she teams up with Khoi Astor, coding wunderkind and creator of last year’s biggest mobile game. Khoi, who has soft eyes and a gentle smile. Khoi, who can make anyone laugh. Khoi, who is easy to fall for…and already dating her camp roommate. If only Char could reprogram her heart to forget about him.
As the competition heats up, so do things between Char and her teammate. But sabotage lurks around every corner, and she soon discovers that the glitzy tech world has a dark, dangerous underbelly.
Rona Wang graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2023 with degrees in mathematics and computer science. She grew up in Oregon and currently bounces between San Francisco and New York City. You Had Me at Hello World is her debut novel.
