Book review - Secret Coders

Title: Secret Coders
Author: Gene Luen Yang
Genre: graphic novel/sci-fi
Similar books: March Grand Prix by Kean Soo
                     How Lunchbox Jones Saved Me From Robots, Traitors, and Missy the Cruel by Jennifer Brown
Rating: 

pretty cool

Summary: Hopper has just started school at Stately Academy and things are not going well. Her efforts to be accepted by the basketball players have fallen flat. She seems to get into trouble at every turn. And something strange is going on with creepy birds and mysterious numbers posted around campus. Hopper and her new (maybe) friend Nikhil are determined to find out what is really going on at Stately Academy.

My opinion: The plot of this graphic novel introduces kids to coding and programming. It is a very basic introduction, but by representing these concepts visually, with real world actions, a very abstract concept is made more easily understood. My favorite feature of this novel is the end of each chapter where the action pauses and encourages the reader to problem solve and work out the coding for what the characters are doing. I look forward to seeing how the plot develops with future volumes.

More information: Secret Coders releases September 29.

Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley.