Book Review: Girls Who Code: The Friendship Code

My cyber-security, tech-minded husband was thrilled when I opened my latest bookmail from KidLitExchange to find the first book in the Girls Who Code series. He immediately started flipping through it, asking me if I knew what the different lines of code meant. (insert eye roll here)

Girls Who Code: The Friendship Code by Stacia Deutsch

Review: Girls Who Code: The Friendship Code is a sweet story about a sixth grader named Lucy who is a member of her school's coding club. After Lucy begins receiving mysterious notes written in code, she turns to some of the other members of the club to help her figure out the mysteries. Reminiscent of The Babysitters Club series, this would be a good book to introduce the basics of programming and computer science to students, whether at a STEM school or just to have on hand in the library/classroom.

While geared towards middle grades, I felt it was better suited for upper elementary, as the writing was pretty simplistic and it lacked any conflict. The conflict that was mentioned (a year-long estrangement between Lucy and her former best friend) was seemingly resolved after a few words to one another. The characters, while diverse, were very one-dimensional. However, the themes of friendships and problem-solving are ones that are both universal and positive, and I could see how it might help to spark an interest in computer programming for students.

Rating: 3.5/5