Spotlight on Coding Club!

Girls Who Code #4

by Michelle Schusterman, Jessica Almasy (Narrator), Reshma Saujani (Narrator)

2 Hours and 51 Minutes

Perfect for fans of The Babysitters Club and anyone interested in computer science, this series is published in partnership with the organization Girls Who Code!

It's almost time for the talent show at school, and Erin couldn't be more excited. It's her time to take center stage! Plus, she and her friends from coding club are putting together an awesome coding program for the show.

But Erin has a big secret: she has anxiety. And when things start piling up at home and school, she starts having trouble handling everything. Her friends from coding club have always been there for her, but will they be as understanding when the going gets tough? Sometimes in coding--like in friendship--things don't go exactly as planned, but the outcome can be even better than you'd imagined.

Genres: Middle Grade, Coding, Realistic Fiction, Friendship, Childrens

Audio CD

First published October 2, 2018

About the author

Michelle Schusterman is the alleged author of less than one hundred books for kids and teens, most of which are not published under a secret pseudonym, and all of which include various characters. She lives on a steamboat with her pet crawfish, unless she's lying, in which case she lives among the spiders beneath the stage at the Metropolitan Opera, unless that's another lie, in which case she lives in an apartment in Queens with her chocolate lab, who can talk.

Reviews

[Kevin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book only because I am a fan of the author. I was kind of lost as to the characters since I did not read the previous books in the series, but I quickly caught on. I am giving the book 3 stars only, though, because I would think that a book about girls who code would actually have more actual coding explained in the book and not just glossed over.

[Cindy Mitchell *Kiss the Book* · Rating 4 out of 5]

Girls Who Code: Spotlight on Coding Club! by Michelle Schusterman, 137 pages. Penguin Workshop, 2018. $13.

Language: G (0 swears); Mature Content: PG; Violence: G.

BUYING ADVISORY: EL - ESSENTIAL

AUDIENCE APPEAL: HIGH

A group of five girls, with different interests and hobbies, all share one love - coding. In this book they work together to design online voting for the school talent show and one of the girls reveals that she has been experiencing anxiety since her dad left on a military mission. They work together to address both the coding and the anxiety.

I quickly liked this group of girls, although I did have a hard time telling them apart in the story. They are problem solvers and proactive. One of the characters has feelings for another girl, adding a gentle LGBT layer to the book.

Jen Wecker, HS English Teacher
https://kissthebookjr.blogspot.com/20...

[Yapha · Rating 4 out of 5]

This series of books keeps on getting better and better! In addition to coding and friendship, this entry into the series tackles the tough topics of military deployment and anxiety. The fears are portrayed realistically, and the adults model supportive behavior and suggest appropriate solutions. After all of the girl/boy winter dance drama in books 2 & 3, we learn that one of the friends is interested in girls. Thankfully, it is not the softball player. :) This is a non-issue to the coding club, as it should be. Highly recommended for grades 3 & up.

[Lauren S · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like how as the series goes on, there is more of a storyline outside of coding club. Practically all of the events relate to coding club, but I feel as though this book helped us learn about the featured character way more than the others currently in the series. One thing I questioned was... why at the end did Sophia say to Erin she heard from Maya she had a monkey for her act but she’s the one who gave her the monkey.... and it’s her sisters. 🤔

[Dax · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was like a wonderful punch to the gut. The way they openly discussed mental illness and the impact of therapy while also talking to your friends about your struggles was just magic! I appreciate just how much this series shows the magic and potential of coding. It's a great way to get folks excited about coding and the friendships you can build from it. I wish my introduction to coding was done in this way!!

[Alison · Rating 5 out of 5]

Okay this early MG books is cheesy for sure - but it talks about anxiety & therapy against the back drop of an all girls coding friendship. And it has a casual diversity (in many different ways) that I think is really important for young readers!

[Monica H at The Readathon · Rating 3 out of 5]

My rating: 3.5 stars!

[claire · Rating 4 out of 5]

Exciting book

[Jia ♥ · Rating 5 out of 5]

I <3 girls who code!!!!!!!!!!!

[Hareesh · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was probably my favourite of the series so far. There's very little coding content, but the book really does a good job of talking about the pressures of friendship and working as a team. I also loved that there was a discussion of mental health -- Erin has problems with anxiety, and it's great that the book presents a positive approach to dealing with it with the support of family, friends, and professional help.

[Katelyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

The talent show is here, and everyone has fun with it.

[Piper]

Ijj

[Holly Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5/5 Love the representation of mental health and LGBT in this book. Great girl power!!

[Amelia Webb · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book I wish I could've read when I was younger.

[Emmaella Guan · Rating 4 out of 5]

"I give it four stars because Erin was so funny trying to keep the group together and her dad on a mission. Everyone was about to fall apart, but in the end, everything went back to normal! Yay!"

[Rowan · Rating 5 out of 5]

this book was so much better than i expected it to be. i picked it up cause i always enjoy reading middle grade, stem based, literature. coding wasn't even much of an actual focus in this book, it was a lot more about erin's anxiety issues, but i didn't mind that at all.

the diversity in the characters was very good, they were all such different people and yet you can really see how this common interest has turned them all into such close friends. lgbtqia+ rep was so unexpected but made me really happy!! hannah and maya seem very cute, and i love how supportive erin was, so needed in books for younger kids!

erin was so relatable it was almost painful, her anxiety issue was handled really well though and i like that they made a point that therapy isn't something to be embarrassed about. the ending with the monkey dance was also very cute.