A review by joeyhannah
The Friendship Code #1 by Stacia Deutsch
2.0
I used this book in my Girls Who Code club last year. The previous year, we had used the Learn to Code and Change the World book from Girls Who Code. The curriculum guide that came with this one mirrored the curriculum guide for the non-fiction book, so the concepts covered in the first chapter of the non-fiction book mirrored concepts covered in this fiction book.
The problem with this is that the girls found the book to be exceptionally boring. They lost focus quickly every time we tried reading it in class. After several class sessions, we ended up dropping the book entirely and I covered each concept independently. I was still able to use the curriculum and activities as a general outline.
I get where they were going with this - they tried to take their nonfiction book and make it fun. But the girls absolutely hated it. A few of them had checked the book out of the library prior to starting in the club and in class discussions, I asked their opinions. It was kind of funny how they tactfully tried to tell me it was terrible. I personally hadn't read it and didn't finish it until just now and they were right. It felt like the reader is being talked down to and it was very contrived.
The problem with this is that the girls found the book to be exceptionally boring. They lost focus quickly every time we tried reading it in class. After several class sessions, we ended up dropping the book entirely and I covered each concept independently. I was still able to use the curriculum and activities as a general outline.
I get where they were going with this - they tried to take their nonfiction book and make it fun. But the girls absolutely hated it. A few of them had checked the book out of the library prior to starting in the club and in class discussions, I asked their opinions. It was kind of funny how they tactfully tried to tell me it was terrible. I personally hadn't read it and didn't finish it until just now and they were right. It felt like the reader is being talked down to and it was very contrived.