David Tung Can't Have a Girlfriend Until He Gets Into an Ivy League College

Marie Myung-Ok Lee

David Tung is a nerd-hero readers will cheer on to the end.

Chris L. Terry

You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll get straight A's.

Sheba Karim

You’ll fall hard for David Tung, a high-achieving teen with a heart of gold. Lin writes with a keen sense of character; even the most minor characters spring alive off the page.

JJ Strong

With tender and hilarious insight, Ed Lin offers an irresistible tale of first love, complete with swooning crushes, tongue-tied blunders, overbearing-but-well-meaning parents, and an outrageous cast of supporting characters only New York and New Jerseycan produce.

Shawn Wong

Ed Lin's New Jersey is entirely Chinese American and way, way more complex and threatening than the Soprano's version of NJ. There are rich Chinese, really rich Chinese, Ivy League Chinese, super educated Chinese, and then there's David Tung who has never been on airplane, works in his family's Chinese restaurant, and ranks a shameful (according to his mother) number eight academically in his school. For Chinese American readers who survived high school, it's a hive-inducing horror movie from our past.

David Henry Hwang

A beautifully observed, hilariously truthful, uplifting coming-of-age story that captures the heart and humanity of a Chinese American male teenager. I am impressed and inspired by Ed Lin’s achievement and wish I could’ve read this book when I was in high school.

Jung Kim

I cringed, I cheered, I wished this book had been there for me as a teen.

Asian Review of Books

Susan Bloomberg-Kason

[A]n updated coming of age story that brings hope to teens navigating the “in-between.

Teen Vogue

Editors

Ed Lin's new book David Tung Can’t Have A Girlfriend Until He Gets Into An Ivy League College is an exploration of much more than dating. Through humor, the book explores identity, traditions, social expectations, and stereotypes through the lens of a suburban New Jersey high school student.

Dear Author

Jayne S.

Ed Lin’s YA-novel debut takes on coming-of-age in the Asian diaspora with a heartwarming and humorous exploration of race, class, young love, and the contradictory expectations of immigrant parents.