Thursday, August 3, 2017

Girls Who Code: Learn to Code and Change the World by Reshma Saujani

Title: Girls Who Code: Learn to Code and Change the World
Author: Reshma Saujani
Publisher: Viking Books for Young Readers
Publication date: August 22, 2017
Pages: 176
Source/format: Publisher/ARC

Rating: ☆☆☆ 

Synopsis (from goodreads.com):

Part how-to, part girl-empowerment, and all fun, from the leader of the movement championed by Sheryl Sandberg, Malala Yousafzai, and John Legend.

Since 2012, the organization Girls Who Code has taught computing skills to and inspired over 40,000 girls across America. Now its founder, Reshma Saujani, wants to inspire you to be a girl who codes! Bursting with dynamic artwork, down-to-earth explanations of coding principles, and real-life stories of girls and women working at places like Pixar and NASA, this graphically animated book shows what a huge role computer science plays in our lives and how much fun it can be. No matter your interest--sports, the arts, baking, student government, social justice--coding can help you do what you love and make your dreams come true. Whether you're a girl who's never coded before, a girl who codes, or a parent raising one, this entertaining book, printed in bold two-color and featuring art on every page, will have you itching to create your own apps, games, and robots to make the world a better place.

M Y  T H O U G H T S

Girls Who Code is an inspiring book for girls who want to learn how to code. Reshma Saujani encourages girls to embrace their love for computer science and STEM related fields. It's okay for girls to like coding. In a male dominated world of coding, Saujani tells girls that coding is for everyone.
The book is divided into many chapters and each chapter has a mixture of text and also images. The timeline of the computer is a nice touch and visually explains the history of the first computers to give readers knowledge of how coding came to be. Girls Who Code explains coding in a way where readers can relate coding to their own lives. From loops to functions, Girls Who Code clearly describes coding terms.

The book also has a section with each coding language with their uses which I find handy. It's a good guide when you're trying to figure out what coding language to use. The glossary is clearly organized and defines many terms for coders to learn and understand.

Girls Who Code is a good companion to the website girlswhocode.com. This is a good resource to check out to find more about coding before delving into the world of coding. However, I wish their was more information about practicing coding in the book or a section of good resources about coding for readers to check out either online or in their local communities besides what is on Girls Who Code website. A printed list of other organizations would be great to see in the book as well.

2 comments:

  1. This book is so cool. I wish there were things like this when I was growing up-- although the internet was just a baby then :( I have a 9 year old son who would love something like this, so hopefully I can find a non-gendered book for him to read too.

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    Replies
    1. I wish there was more of a push toward STEM related subjects and topics. I would have definitely taken coding classes in middle school and high school.

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