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Emmy in the Key of Code
In this innovative middle grade novel, coding and music take center stage as new girl Emmy tries to find her place in a new school. Perfect for fans of the Girls Who Code series and The Crossover.
In a new city, at a new school, twelve-year-old Emmy has never felt more out of tune. Things start to look up when she takes her first coding class, unexpectedly connecting with the material—and Abigail, a new friend—through a shared language: music. But when Emmy gets bad news about their computer teacher, and finds out Abigail isn’t being entirely honest about their friendship, she feels like her new life is screeching to a halt. Despite these obstacles, Emmy is determined to prove one thing: that, for the first time ever, she isn’t a wrong note, but a musician in the world’s most beautiful symphony.
In a new city, at a new school, twelve-year-old Emmy has never felt more out of tune. Things start to look up when she takes her first coding class, unexpectedly connecting with the material—and Abigail, a new friend—through a shared language: music. But when Emmy gets bad news about their computer teacher, and finds out Abigail isn’t being entirely honest about their friendship, she feels like her new life is screeching to a halt. Despite these obstacles, Emmy is determined to prove one thing: that, for the first time ever, she isn’t a wrong note, but a musician in the world’s most beautiful symphony.
416 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 24, 2019
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 274 reviews
December 18, 2018
Well, perhaps I'm a *little* bit biased, but THIS IS THE BEST BOOK I'VE EVER READ!!!! Recommend it to all your friends and buy it for all your children/nieces/nephews.
April 5, 2019
This is such a fun book! The way it combines music and code and poetry is totally unique, and Emmy herself is such an earnest, heartfelt character looking for her place in the world. STEM-focused fiction for girls is of course very much needed, but it's not all about the coding (although the code-poetry itself is pretty awesome). Emmy's relationship with her parents, her amazing computer teacher, and the girl she hopes will be her best friend drive the story forward as Emmy learns how to find her voice. I'll be handing this to the middle-grade readers in my life for sure!
March 25, 2019
EMMY IN THE KEY OF CODE is a brilliant mesh of music and Java, blurring lines between poetic and programmatic language. Smart, determined Emmy stays true to herself as she searches for her voice. An inspiring and enlightening read!
October 3, 2019
mis uskumatult imeline idee ja teostus.
luulevormis (laste)raamat, kus on suur osa muusikal, aga sama suur osa programmeerimisel, ja mis ajapikku muutub ingliskeelsest järjest Java-keelsemaks, aga jääb ikkagi luuleks.
lugu ise on selline... keskmisele koolieale, tegelased nii umbes 12-aastased ja tegevuskohaks suvaline keskastmekool San Franciscos. mina olen suur middle-grade fictioni fänn ja oleks seda päris hea meelega lugenud ka tavalise proosana, see oleks olnud Emmy uues kodus ja koolis kohanemise, sõprade ja iseenda leidmise loona ikka päris palju väärt. samas tunnistan, et sedasorti jutukeste nautimine on veidi ikka nišivärk ja guilty pleasure, kui sihgrupi east juba väljas oled.
aga selles vormis, mis ta kirjutatud on - kõik peaksid seda lugema, KÕIK. need, kes armastavad programmeerida, aga ei loeks iial luulet (ega lasteraamatut). need, kes armastavad muusikat, aga kardavad arvuteid (või lasteraamatuid). lapsed, kes loeks meeleldi lihtsalt lasteraamatut, kui nad vähegi inglise keeles loevad. need, kes tahaks lugeda kaasaegset luulet, ja need, kes ei tea kaasaegsest luulest midagi. ja muidugi kõik, kellele meeldivadki nii luule, muusika kui programmeerimine.
luulevormis (laste)raamat, kus on suur osa muusikal, aga sama suur osa programmeerimisel, ja mis ajapikku muutub ingliskeelsest järjest Java-keelsemaks, aga jääb ikkagi luuleks.
lugu ise on selline... keskmisele koolieale, tegelased nii umbes 12-aastased ja tegevuskohaks suvaline keskastmekool San Franciscos. mina olen suur middle-grade fictioni fänn ja oleks seda päris hea meelega lugenud ka tavalise proosana, see oleks olnud Emmy uues kodus ja koolis kohanemise, sõprade ja iseenda leidmise loona ikka päris palju väärt. samas tunnistan, et sedasorti jutukeste nautimine on veidi ikka nišivärk ja guilty pleasure, kui sihgrupi east juba väljas oled.
aga selles vormis, mis ta kirjutatud on - kõik peaksid seda lugema, KÕIK. need, kes armastavad programmeerida, aga ei loeks iial luulet (ega lasteraamatut). need, kes armastavad muusikat, aga kardavad arvuteid (või lasteraamatuid). lapsed, kes loeks meeleldi lihtsalt lasteraamatut, kui nad vähegi inglise keeles loevad. need, kes tahaks lugeda kaasaegset luulet, ja need, kes ei tea kaasaegsest luulest midagi. ja muidugi kõik, kellele meeldivadki nii luule, muusika kui programmeerimine.
December 30, 2019
I was so close to giving this 5 stars, because up until the very last page of the book, I loved everything about it! However, I was disappointed in the ending, so I've gone down to 4 stars (it didn't satisfy me that there was a major plot point that was left hanging).
I loved how this book mixed code and poetry and music. When I first learned how to program, I remember thinking that if I could write down my thoughts, I could write them down in code. This book does exactly that, in a beautiful way.
I loved how this book mixed code and poetry and music. When I first learned how to program, I remember thinking that if I could write down my thoughts, I could write them down in code. This book does exactly that, in a beautiful way.
February 20, 2019
I read an early pre release. Started on my train to work. Got into the office and spent the first half hour of my workday finishing it. Can't wait to read the final cut!
Read
July 18, 2021DNF @ 10%
The audiobook is done really well! However, I’m not gelling much with the main character. So unfortunately I’m going to set this one down.
The audiobook is done really well! However, I’m not gelling much with the main character. So unfortunately I’m going to set this one down.
March 25, 2019
If you think you need to understand code or math to appreciate this book, I am here to reassure that that is NOT the case. Trust me, I barely made it out of Algebra II! This is a beautiful and smart novel that uses code and music AND poetry to tell a story, and a fabulous, emotional, pitch-perfect MG story at that.
Like Emmy herself, the poems are playful, heartfelt, and layered. You could use this in a classroom to discuss poetry, or music, or computer science, or just friendship and standing up for yourself. I recommend this for fans of THE CROSSOVER, MS. BIXBY'S LAST DAY, and THE THING ABOUT JELLYFISH, or really any stellar MG.
Like Emmy herself, the poems are playful, heartfelt, and layered. You could use this in a classroom to discuss poetry, or music, or computer science, or just friendship and standing up for yourself. I recommend this for fans of THE CROSSOVER, MS. BIXBY'S LAST DAY, and THE THING ABOUT JELLYFISH, or really any stellar MG.
March 31, 2022
There needs to be a second book! We must find out if Ms. Delano is going to get to come back to the school or not. But either way, this was such a lovely read. The story plot was just so sweet and quite warming. Lucido wrote a wonderful depiction of what most young people go through when they start at a new school and don't feel like they fit it. Many scenes reminded me of when I was at a Youth Bible Study between 6th and 8th grade. And I love how the chapters are structed in code and she utilizes certain music terms. How clever! I would totally read it again.
March 31, 2019
I had the chance to read an advance copy of EMMY and all I can say is "wow." Not sure which is more impressive - the ambition of creating a novel in verse filled with music and code or the execution! Can't wait to pass it along to my daughters to read next.
September 18, 2019
This was a great story!! I can relate to Emmy in the musical way so can my son. See we're string players. Oh and I can't leave my mom out who started all of this. However; I don't think that ever did any music in code so this was something new to me.
My grandmother I'm sure can definitely relate most to Emmy because she was moving around to all the different schools in Ohio when she was younger. I can't imagine doing that but I'm sure it couldn't have been easy. How are you going to learn where to fit in of you move around all the time?
Actually yes I can be Emmy. I had to move to a different state school and city where I was really never accepted. Music was what helped me a whole lot back then.
This author I felt like was telling my story when I was Emmys are. She has done this so well that I travelled back to my own childhood. Wow!! Super job!!
I really enjoyed this story. It's not very often that I pick upt this type of story anymore but it's a delight whenever I do.
I recommend this book if you love music like I do!
My thanks to Netgalley for a complimentary copy of this book. NO compensations were received. All opinions are my own
My grandmother I'm sure can definitely relate most to Emmy because she was moving around to all the different schools in Ohio when she was younger. I can't imagine doing that but I'm sure it couldn't have been easy. How are you going to learn where to fit in of you move around all the time?
Actually yes I can be Emmy. I had to move to a different state school and city where I was really never accepted. Music was what helped me a whole lot back then.
This author I felt like was telling my story when I was Emmys are. She has done this so well that I travelled back to my own childhood. Wow!! Super job!!
I really enjoyed this story. It's not very often that I pick upt this type of story anymore but it's a delight whenever I do.
I recommend this book if you love music like I do!
My thanks to Netgalley for a complimentary copy of this book. NO compensations were received. All opinions are my own
August 6, 2022
Previewing for a novel in verse unit. An interesting intersection of YA Lit, poetry, music, and coding. Love the female character STEAM emphasis and the connection to real world problems. The text is so cool with a glossary of both music and coding terms. The author used to work coding for Facebook/Uber and she puts different coding terms and symbols throughout the book.
June 17, 2021
Kui Silvia Rannamaa, K&R ning Vladimir Majakovski saavad ühise lapse, siis see on see.
November 5, 2022
This was cute and a combination of two of my favourite things!!!!
December 31, 2019
Verse novel that encapsulates a lot of themes with which young people can identify. Clever and heart-warming.
February 18, 2020
Great middle school story and inventive format. It's not for everyone, though. Give this to kids who have had an introduction to coding.
April 5, 2022
I've been pursuing music-based middle grade, or middle grade stories that feature music in a meaningful way, for the better part of a year, and this is another great example. It's written in verse, which means while it looks like it has a lot of pages (and it does --383), it's a few hours read, at most. It goes by super-quick. And a lot of the punctuation, brackets and stuff, which are specific to coding, can easily be ignored by lower-level readers (and those of us with no computer coding experience at all) with no loss in story comprehension.
Emmy is the daughter of musicians -- a pianist father who's opera singing mom has taken a non-musical job to support her family while giving her husband a shot at the (piano) big time -- becoming a soloist. The problem is, Emmy's never really buckled down enough to master any of the instruments she's tried out, and she's ping-ponged from one to the next. She tried piano and singing, even, with help from her parents, but she's concluded she's not a musician.
Which is just not true. The music is inside her, the key is -- getting it out.
She lets her new mid-year-move middle school pick her elective, and she gets computer science, where she meets her new BFF, who loves coding but doesn't know how to break that news to the singing choir girls she's always run with before.
Emmy and her fellow-coder end up forging a tight friendship, especially in light of a boy in class who's not very nice to them, but they all come together when their teacher's cancer relapses and she ends up in the hospital.
The teacher-with-cancer angle is designed to be a tear-jerker.
However, the way Emmy finds her path to her own music resonated even more strongly with us, as my son (who's taken string instrument lessons for more than a decade) found his passion during COVID and online schooling through writing synthesized tunes (instrumental hip-hop, mostly) on Soundation.
A fun read, and great for April!
Looking for more book suggestions for your 7th/8th grade classroom and students?
Visit my blog for more great middle grade book recommendations, free teaching materials and fiction writing tips: https://amb.mystrikingly.com/
Emmy is the daughter of musicians -- a pianist father who's opera singing mom has taken a non-musical job to support her family while giving her husband a shot at the (piano) big time -- becoming a soloist. The problem is, Emmy's never really buckled down enough to master any of the instruments she's tried out, and she's ping-ponged from one to the next. She tried piano and singing, even, with help from her parents, but she's concluded she's not a musician.
Which is just not true. The music is inside her, the key is -- getting it out.
She lets her new mid-year-move middle school pick her elective, and she gets computer science, where she meets her new BFF, who loves coding but doesn't know how to break that news to the singing choir girls she's always run with before.
Emmy and her fellow-coder end up forging a tight friendship, especially in light of a boy in class who's not very nice to them, but they all come together when their teacher's cancer relapses and she ends up in the hospital.
The teacher-with-cancer angle is designed to be a tear-jerker.
However, the way Emmy finds her path to her own music resonated even more strongly with us, as my son (who's taken string instrument lessons for more than a decade) found his passion during COVID and online schooling through writing synthesized tunes (instrumental hip-hop, mostly) on Soundation.
A fun read, and great for April!
Looking for more book suggestions for your 7th/8th grade classroom and students?
Visit my blog for more great middle grade book recommendations, free teaching materials and fiction writing tips: https://amb.mystrikingly.com/
June 2, 2019
First of all, the verse in this novel is beautiful - many verse novels read like prose with wacky line breaks, but this book works as poetry as well as a narrative, and it uses space really well, especially with the incorporation of code elements. The story is well-paced and well-told, the challenges of middle school are real to these characters but I think every reader will see themselves reflected, the characters are three-dimensional, and I absolutely LOVE the way Lucido makes it clear that you can find the thing you love in unexpected places, that it's okay to listen to your heart even when your heart isn't saying what you expected, that no one gets to decide who you are but you. I wish I could give this to me at age 11, but I'll have to settle for giving it to as many work kiddos as will listen.
January 30, 2021
Kujutage ette noorteromaani, kus kesksel kohal on programmeerimine ja muusika, aga see kõik kõlab nagu luule. Ei suuda, eks. Aga selle raamatu autor on sellega hakkama saanud ja minu meelest väga hästi. Nii et lugege ise.
April 20, 2019
LOVED this novel in verse! Full review soon!
July 7, 2019
I love this!! Review to come on my blog which you should totally be checking out!
February 28, 2021
This is a little more than a three, but rounded down. I liked this book :)
Here are my complaints:
the whole thing is a bit confusing. she never really explains what Java even is, or what a computer language is. There is a glossary for the coding words at the back, but coding is so incredibly complicated, that it is close to impossible to actually explain everything in one book. I think the author didn't realize this because she is a coder, so she already knows everything, but I found myself just sipping the coding parts because I had no idea what it all meant. The poetry was good. At some points I felt like it was just regular writing put into short lines, but at some points it was great.
To sum it up, I liked this book. It was a bit confusing at some parts, but overall it was great. I loved the character development!
Here are my complaints:
the whole thing is a bit confusing. she never really explains what Java even is, or what a computer language is. There is a glossary for the coding words at the back, but coding is so incredibly complicated, that it is close to impossible to actually explain everything in one book. I think the author didn't realize this because she is a coder, so she already knows everything, but I found myself just sipping the coding parts because I had no idea what it all meant. The poetry was good. At some points I felt like it was just regular writing put into short lines, but at some points it was great.
To sum it up, I liked this book. It was a bit confusing at some parts, but overall it was great. I loved the character development!
November 6, 2019
I give Emmy in the Key of Code a 4.5 star rating and I liked it because the characters were very clear about their feelings and it had lots of coding in it but it was a very quick read for me and I also liked that the friendships between the kids were like me and my friends. Reviewed by: Lucy, grade 4
Emmy’s move to a new California School introduces her to an exciting new teacher and an exciting nitch in Computer Coding. Encouraged by Abigail, a new friend, Emmy follows in her Dad’s musical footsteps by creating a new coding music of her own. Will Emmy’s music help her to belong in this new place. I liked the fact that the book brought together music and coding since these are passions of mine. Similar books: The Kid in the Red Jacket by Barbara Park. Reviewed by: Evan, grade 6
Emmy’s move to a new California School introduces her to an exciting new teacher and an exciting nitch in Computer Coding. Encouraged by Abigail, a new friend, Emmy follows in her Dad’s musical footsteps by creating a new coding music of her own. Will Emmy’s music help her to belong in this new place. I liked the fact that the book brought together music and coding since these are passions of mine. Similar books: The Kid in the Red Jacket by Barbara Park. Reviewed by: Evan, grade 6
June 19, 2021
Whew, this was quite a book! It was written in verse, which really was perfect for the subject matter. It felt very musical and it lent itself perfectly to the use of computer coding.
Of course, I connected with the main character since she had music running through her veins, as I do. But I really appreciated that the author gave the MC some realistic faults. She LOVED music, but she wasn’t a great musician, which is totally fine and it was handled really well in the book!
I often really dislike at least one character arc in a book, but all of the characters in this book were fantastic and felt very real. If I were a seventh grader, I would have been able to connect with at least one character no matter what I was going through in real life.
This book hit sensitive topics (social anxiety, friendships, bullying, moving, etc) really well and at a level that the intended audience would be able to understand.
Love love love this book!
Of course, I connected with the main character since she had music running through her veins, as I do. But I really appreciated that the author gave the MC some realistic faults. She LOVED music, but she wasn’t a great musician, which is totally fine and it was handled really well in the book!
I often really dislike at least one character arc in a book, but all of the characters in this book were fantastic and felt very real. If I were a seventh grader, I would have been able to connect with at least one character no matter what I was going through in real life.
This book hit sensitive topics (social anxiety, friendships, bullying, moving, etc) really well and at a level that the intended audience would be able to understand.
Love love love this book!
January 17, 2020
Emmy in the Key of Code is a delightful novel done in verse.
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Emmy is 12 years old and is at a new school in California. Her life in Wisconsin seems so far away and she adjusts to a new home and not having any friends. She feels out of place until she opens herself up to her Computer Science class. This is where Emmy finds something new in herself that helps her realize that she got in all along.
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Emmy is 12 years old and is at a new school in California. Her life in Wisconsin seems so far away and she adjusts to a new home and not having any friends. She feels out of place until she opens herself up to her Computer Science class. This is where Emmy finds something new in herself that helps her realize that she got in all along.
November 15, 2020
This was an ok book. Informative and realistic. I liked the characters and the story. Great for a quick read. It definitely captures the younger years and those good/bad days. Good for passing time or just something to read. Good Luck.
September 2, 2022
So brilliant it hurts. This book trusts its middle grade readers to do hard things. That ending- how dare you! I'd buy a book about watching paint dry if it was written by Aimee Lucido, and then I'd lay on my floor afterward just being mad that anyone can write so well at a level that 12 year olds can understand and that adults can find so moving.
October 30, 2019
This novel is a perfectly coded middle grade novel. Filled with new and old friendships and Java in verse! Seriously, this book is brilliant.
November 23, 2019
4.5 This was such a cute and wonderful book full of music, coding, friendship, and finding where you belong.
November 23, 2019
Such a great read! It’s code, it’s poetry, it’s music, it’s teen (and adult) angst, finding and belonging. Just lovely.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 274 reviews