“It’s almost time for the winter dance, and Maya and her BFFs are in charge of coding the lights and music! Of course they’ll use what they’ve learned in coding club to make it super-cool, though figuring out their plan isn’t easy. And Maya’s friends aren’t listening to any of her ideas.

But Nicole, Maya’s old friend, is happy to listen to her. Before long, Maya finds herself in one big mess—with her friends and at home—and the dance might be a total disaster. Is it too late for Maya to realize that friendship—like coding—is about making sure you look, listen, and learn?”

I love the idea and concept of this book! Using books to introduce children to different people, places, and things is something I did as a teacher and now do as a mom. It’s a great way to teach without telling them they’re learning. See how sneaky that is? Coding may seem scary and difficult when children (and adults) first learn about it. However, if they can see it put to use, it helps break down the barriers.

That’s the idea behind this book, and the two previous books. If you can create a cute, fun story that girls will enjoy reading, and make coding fun, it may help girls take more of an interest in coding. The girls in the story come from all different kinds of backgrounds and ethnicities, which is great. Most of them seem like sweet girls, and they’re smart! I like it when being smart is portrayed as a good thing.

The things these girls do in coding club amazes me! I even learned a few things. (Haha! That’s not hard…I don’t know anything about coding!) It’s super fun what they end up putting together. One thing I had hoped for was more coding. For a book about coding, there wasn’t a ton of it. It’s a good start though.

There are some good lessons taught in this book as well. Honesty, trust, treating your parents with respect, and taking responsibility for your actions are just a few of the lessons. The problem is that there is A LOT of drama before they can get to the lessons learned. Wow. I don’t do drama, and have taught my girls not to get sucked into the drama, and this book is 85% drama, 13% coding, and 2% lessons learned. It’s a bit much.

One thing that didn’t make sense to me was that the girls are in middle school, but they’re going with boys (as dates) to the dance. It felt like they should be in high school instead. However, the reading level of the book seemed a bit low to include boys, as dates, and all that drama. The reading level and language made it seem like the girls should be even younger than middle school. I thought there was a bit of a disconnect because those things weren’t congruent.

Overall, though, everything came together in the end. The girls accomplished their coding goals and learned some good lessons. I think it does do a good job of introducing some things that coding can do, and how coding can be used in everyday situations.