THE CODE FOR LOVE AND HEARTBREAK
Author: Jillian
Cantor
ISBN: 9781335090591
Publication Date: October
6, 2020
Publisher: Inkyard Press
In this contemporary romcom retelling of Jane Austen’s Emma by USA TODAY bestselling author Jillian Cantor, there’s nothing more complex—or unpredictable—than love.
When math genius Emma and her coding club co-president, George, are tasked with brainstorming a new project, The Code for Love is born.
George disapproves of Emma’s idea of creating a matchmaking app, accusing her of meddling in people’s lives. But all the happy new couples at school are proof that the app works. At least at first.
Emma’s code is flawless. So why is it that perfectly matched couples start breaking up, the wrong people keep falling for each other, and Emma’s own feelings defy any algorithm?
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Excerpt
PROLOGUE
I’ve always loved numbers a whole lot more
than I love people. For one thing, I can make numbers behave any way I want
them to. No arguments, no questions. I write a line of code, and my computer
performs a specific and very regulated task. Numbers don’t play games or hide
behind some nuance I’ve missed. I write an equation, then formulate a
definitive and absolutely correct answer.
And
maybe most importantly, numbers never leave me. I tell this to Izzy as she’s
sitting on her suitcase, trying to force it closed, having just packed the last
of her closet before leaving for her freshman year at UCLA, which is exactly
2,764 miles from our house in Highbury, New Jersey. A number which seems
insurmountable, and which makes me think that after this day, Izzy’s last one
at home until Christmas break, we’ll be more like two strangers floating across
a continent from one another than sisters.
“Numbers,” I say to Izzy now, “are much better
than people.”
“You’re such a nerd, Em,” Izzy says, but she
stops what she’s doing and squeezes my arm affectionately, before finally
getting the suitcase to zip. She’s a nerd, too, but not for numbers like me—for
books. Izzy is running 2,764 miles away from New Jersey to read,
to major in English at UCLA. Which is ridiculous, given she could’ve done the
same at Rutgers, or the College of New Jersey, or almost any one of the other
sixty-two colleges in our state, any of which would’ve been within driving
distance so we could’ve seen each other on weekends. Izzy says she’s going to
California for the sunshine, but Dad and I both know the real reason is that
her boyfriend, John, decided to go to UCLA to study film. Izzy chose John over
me, and that part stings the most.
“I
can’t believe you’re actually going,” I say, and not for the first time. I’ve
been saying this to Izzy all summer, hoping she might change her mind. But now
that her suitcase is zipped, it feels like she’s really leaving, and my eyes
start to well up. I do love numbers more than people. Most people.
Izzy and I are only seventeen months apart,
and our mom died when we were both toddlers. Dad works a lot, and Izzy and I
have barely been apart for more than a night in as long as I can remember, much
less months.
She stops messing with her suitcase now, walks
over to where I’m sitting on her bed and puts her arm around me. I lean my head
on her shoulder, and breathe in the comforting scent of her strawberry shampoo,
one last time. “I’m going to miss you, too, Em,” she says. “But you’re going to
have a great senior year.” She says it emphatically, her voice filled with
enthusiasm that I don’t believe or even understand.
“You
really could stay,” I say. “You got into two colleges in New Jersey.” This has
been my argument to her all summer. I keep thinking if I say it enough she
really will change her mind. But even as I say it, I know it’s probably too
late for her to change anything for fall semester now, no matter how much I
might want her to. And she just looks back at me with worry all over her face.
“Em,
you know I can’t.”
“Can’t
or won’t?” I wipe my nose with the back of my hand, pulling away from her.
She
leaves me on her bed, and goes back to her suitcase. She shifts it around,
props it upright and then looks back at me. “You know what you need?” she says,
breathing hard from managing the weight of her entire life, crammed inside this
giant suitcase. “To get out there this year. Be more social. Get some friends.
Maybe even a boyfriend.”
“A boyfriend?” I half laugh, half sniffle at
the ridiculousness of it.
“If
you keep busy, you won’t even notice I’m gone.” She speaks quickly, excitedly.
There’s nothing Izzy likes more than a good plan, but this sounds terrible to
me. “Christmas will be here before you know it—” she’s still talking “—then
next year, you’ll be off to college, too.”
Maybe that would be true for her, if I were
the one leaving, and if she were staying here. If I were the older one, leaving
for California first, Izzy would stay here, spend the year with John and barely
even notice my absence. Which is what I guess she’s about to do at UCLA. But
I’ve always needed Izzy much more than she’s needed me.
“I
hate being social. And I don’t want a boyfriend,” I say. “And anyway, you know
what the boys are like at our high school. No thanks.” Mostly, they’re
intimidated by me and my penchant for math, and I find their intimidation so
annoying that I can barely even stand to have a conversation with them, much
less a date. And the few that aren’t? Well, the one that isn’t—George—is my
equal and co-president of coding club. He also happens to be John’s younger
brother. We’re something like friends, George and I. Or maybe not, because we
don’t really hang out outside of family stuff, school or coding club, and I
guess in a way we’re supposed to be rivals. One of us will for certain be
valedictorian of our class this year. The other will be salutatorian. And
knowing George, he’s going to be more than a little bit annoyed when he’s
staring at my back during graduation.
“You
love numbers so much and you’re so good at coding,” Izzy says now with a flip
of her blond curls over her shoulder. She wheels the suitcase toward her
bedroom door and stops and looks back at me. “You could always code yourself a
boyfriend.” She shrugs, then laughs a little, trying to make this moment
lighter.
I
don’t even crack a smile. “That’s a really ridiculous thing to say,” I tell
her. “Thank God you’re going to be an English major.”
But later, after it all fell apart, I would
blame her. I’d say that it was all Izzy’s fault, that she started the
unraveling of everything with her one stupid offhand comment on the morning
that she left me.
Excerpted from The Code For Love and
Heartbreak by Jillian Cantor Copyright © Jillian Cantor. Published by
Inkyard Press.
BIO:
Jillian Cantor is the author of award-winning and bestselling novels for adults and teens, including In Another Time, The Hours Count, Margot, and The Lost Letter, which was a USA Today bestseller. She has a BA in English from Penn State University and an MFA from the University of Arizona. Cantor lives in Arizona with her husband and two sons.
Author Website | TWITTER | Facebook | Insta | Goodreads
Q&A with Jillian Cantor
Q: What inspired this
specific retelling of Emma?
A:
My kids have both been on robotics teams for years, and I’ve spent a lot of
time watching their competitions and being in awe of how brilliant and
innovative these middle and high school students are in STEM. I got the idea to
write about a girl who is an amazing coder but not so great with people and
then I realized it could be a really fun Emma
retelling if I had her create a matchmaking app!
Q: What’s your favorite
Jane Austen book and adaptation?
A:
Emma has always been my favorite Jane
Austen book and I love the movie Clueless.
But I think my favorite Jane Austen adaptation in novel form is Bridget Jones’ Diary as a (loose)
retelling of Pride and Prejudice.
Q: What was the most
challenging part to write in this book?
A:
Well, I honestly didn’t know much about coding going in and unlike Emma, math
was not my best subject in high school. Luckily my husband is a software
engineer and he helped me with all the coding details in the book.
The other
challenge was – and this was the first time I ever wrote a retelling – figuring
out how to stay true to the original but also make the story and plot fresh in
its own updated way.
Q: What was your most
favorite part and why?
A:
I’m trying not to give spoilers, so I’ll just describe it vaguely, but my favorite
scene is the one near the end of the book when George animates something just
for Emma!
Q: What's a typical
writing day for you?
A:
This answer has changed a bit in the last six months. Usually I’d drop my kids
off at school around 8 AM and write or do something writing related until it
was time to pick them up around 3, with a break for lunch and to exercise
during the day. But now that my kids are home doing online school and I don’t
have to physically go anywhere most days, my schedule is a little more fluid.
Recently I’ve been writing more in the afternoons and evenings. I’ve been
finding my most creative times are in those hours when I would normally be
driving around for school pickups and activities.
Q: Where do you like
writing and why? Favorite snacks and/or beverages?
A:
My favorite place to write is at my kitchen table with a cup (or 3!) of coffee.
I also have an office in my home with a very, very messy desk that I like to
write at, especially if it’s a time of day when I need to close the door or get
away from other things (or people) in the house. Aside from coffee, popcorn is
always a favorite snack. I’ve recently gotten obsessed with dried mango, too.
Q: What was your last
5-star read and why?
A:
I just finished Head Over Heels by Hannah
Orenstein and loved it! It’s a rom com (about gymnasts) with well-developed
characters – my favorite kind of book.
Q: How would your main
character fare with a stay-at-home order?
A:
I actually think Emma would handle it much better than I have. She’s super
savvy with technology and would be great with Facetiming George and Jane and
communicating for coding club with Discord and Zoom, and she’d be really good
at navigating the tech challenges of online school. Plus she’s an introvert, so
I think she’d be okay with staying at home.
Q: Is there anything you
can tell us about the book that is not a spoiler and not on the blurb?
Something you'd like to share with us?
A:
Even though Emma and I don’t have much in common in terms of interests (I
stopped math in high school before calculus!), I was, like Emma a musician in
high school. I played the clarinet (not piano) but was really involved in a lot
of musical activities, and weekly lessons, and I even participated in the same
competition Emma does in the book.
Great post! Thanks for sharing the Q&A with the author. I always love reading these.
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