Parents' Guide to

The Friendship Code: Girls Who Code, Book 1

By Rachel Sarah, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 8+

Girls learn coding, solve problems in fun, easy mystery.

Book Stacia Deutsch Contemporary Fiction 2017
The Friendship Code: Girls Who Code, Book 1 Poster Image

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age 6+

Based on 1 parent review

Momsical
Momsical Adult
May 1, 2020
age 6+

My Daughter Loved This Book

My daughter is six and loved this book. She has been reticent to listen to or read chapter books lately, and she had me read this to her twice in one day. I liked there was conflict resolution, positive role models, and it felt grown-up enough to make her feel like she was peering into 6th grade. There were two examples when the character used the word "suck" or "stupid" but otherwise it was pretty tame.

This title has:

Educational value
Great messages
Great role models
See all 1 parent review

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?

Our review:
Parents say: (1):
Kids say: Not yet rated

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

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