15 Dec 2024
I’m currently querying The Syntax of Your Heart — a coming-of-age YA contemporary about love, technology, and discovering one’s own neurodivergence during a high-stakes coding competition.
Sixteen-year-old Mia Pan has always resisted change, but when her recently divorced mother can’t afford rent, she faces the possibility of leaving her school and friend in New York—the only home she’s ever known. Desperate to prevent this disaster, Mia joins a $100,000 coding competition. There’s just one problem: she doesn’t know how to code.
Enter Owen O’Hare, a coding prodigy from London. Kind, cute, and awkward—just like Mia—he’s nothing like her awful ex who, by the way, is also in the competition. Sparks fly as Mia and Owen discover their shared interest in the E.T. video game for Atari, and with their nerdy passions aligned, Owen offers a solution to her coding conundrum: he’ll mentor her.
With the help of their misfit team—including a reclusive engineering student and a loud-mouthed tech enthusiast—they develop a parking app using satellite and machine learning technology. At first, Mia doubts her ability to contribute, but her determination and unique way of thinking help them find creative solutions and reveal her hidden talent for coding.
As her bond with Owen deepens, Mia learns he’s autistic and begins to suspect she might be on the spectrum too. But unresolved pain from her parents’ divorce and trauma from her toxic breakup force her to confront her fears of love and intimacy. To secure her future in New York and embrace her feelings for Owen, Mia must win the competition, reconcile with her past, and, most importantly, accept her true self.
I am currently looking for a literary agent to champion my book. If you are interested, please get in touch!
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