Common Sense Media Review
By Rachel Sarah
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Girls learn coding, solve problems in fun, easy mystery.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 8+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Read
What's the Story?
In THE FRIENDSHIP CODE, Lucy is glad that now that she's in sixth grade, she can finally join Coding Club, which she's been waiting to get into, especially because her mom and brother are coders. But Lucy is disappointed during the first club meeting, because instead of booting up their computers, they're making sandwiches! When Lucy finds a mysterious message on her locker, written in code, she turns to her friends for help. Who wrote the note? Can they figure out what it means? New messages appear, and the girls find the patience to work together and follow the clues. The four friends -- who are black, white, Latina, and Asian -- not only learn how to communicate to find out the answers, but also how to code along the way.
Is It Any Good?
This is a sweet, diverse mystery about a sixth-grader in her school's new coding club. Although the characters are one-dimensional and simple, the story's themes about navigating friendships and solving problems are positive ones.
As Girls Who Code founder Reshma Saujani says in the foreword, there's "a need for books that describe what it's like to actually be a girl who codes." And that's exactly what this first story does. It's also refreshing that Lucy's mother is a computer programmer and her father is an artist.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about coding in The Friendship Code. What is it? What's important about coding? What do people use coding for? How does coding help solve problems?
When there's a rift between you and a friend -- like the one between Lucy and Sophia -- what might you do to come back together? How can you repair any misunderstandings?
Is there something new you'd like to learn? Is there a certain club you've had your eye on at school? How do you feel about checking it out?
Book Details
- Author :
- Genre : Contemporary Fiction
- Topics : STEM , Adventures , Friendship , School ( Middle School )
- Book type : Fiction
- Publisher : Penguin Young Readers Group
- Publication date : August 22, 2017
- Publisher's recommended age(s) : 8 - 12
- Number of pages : 144
- Available on : Paperback, Nook, Audiobook (unabridged), Hardback, Apple Books, Kindle, App
- Last updated : September 30, 2025
Did we miss something on diversity?
Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by
Suggest an Update
Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.
See how we rate