Girl Code: Gaming, Going Viral, and Getting It Done
By Lucinda Dyer,
Common Sense Media Reviewer
Common Sense Media Reviewers
Inspiring true story of teen coders' video game success.
A Lot or a Little?
What you will—and won't—find in this book.
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What's the Story?
In GIRL CODE, shy Sophie from New York's Upper West Side and Andy, from a conservative Filipino family in the Bronx, meet at a summer coding program. While Sophie has never coded, Andy is already a coder and a lover of video games. It's an intensive seven weeks that takes the girls in the program from learning simple coding language to fun projects such as building slot machines (one with an Elvis theme). Andy and Sophie team up for a final project and decide to take on a most unexpected theme -- menstruation. Why, the girls ask themselves, is blood acceptable to talk about in the context of guns and violence but a shameful secret when it comes to a girl's period? They create a retro-themed video game called Tampon Run, in which participants shoot tampons not guns at their enemies. The game goes viral, and Sophie and Andy soon find themselves giving interviews to media around the world and being invited to major tech events. Happily, none of this attention goes to their heads, and the girls use what they're seeing and learning to help them make solid choices about their college majors and what will come after.
Is It Any Good?
Both aspiring coders and teens with non-tech dreams will be inspired by the smart, engaging, and funny story behind the creation of a most unlikely video game. As the story is told in alternating chapters by Andy and Sophie, readers can see how each of them grow not only as coders but as young women trying to forge their own identities. Sophie goes from not being able to speak up in class to giving speeches in front of large audiences -- and being really good at it. Andy goes from fearing what her parents will think of her decisions to embracing a future that's right for her.
For girls interested in a career in technology, Girl Code offers a realistic (but still encouraging) look at the challenges they could face in a field that's still male-dominated.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about how Andy and Sophie found strong identities beyond "student" and "daughter" in Girl Code. What identity do you have (or want to have) outside of your school and family?
How do you think women and girls are portrayed in video games? Do you agree with Andy that it's about how they look and not who they are as people?
Do you think Sophie and Andy are exceptional, or can anyone with passion and commitment achieve their dreams?
Book Details
- Authors: Andrea Gonzales, Sophie Houser
- Genre: Autobiography
- Topics: STEM, Friendship, Great Girl Role Models, High School, Science and Nature
- Book type: Non-Fiction
- Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
- Publication date: March 7, 2017
- Number of pages: 264
- Available on: Nook, Audiobook (unabridged), Hardback, iBooks, Kindle
- Last updated: July 1, 2022
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