Review: Click'd by Tamara Ireland Stone

Title: Click'd

Author: Tamara Ireland Stone

Allie Navarro can't wait to show her best friends the app she built at CodeGirls summer camp. CLICK'D pairs users based on common interests and sends them on a fun (and occasionally rule-breaking) scavenger hunt to find each other. And it's a hit. By the second day of school, everyone is talking about CLICK'D.

Watching her app go viral is amazing. Leaderboards are filling up! Everyone's making new friends. And with all the data Allie is collecting, she has an even better shot at beating her archenemy, Nathan, at the upcoming youth coding competition. But when Allie discovers a glitch that threatens to expose everyone's secrets, she has to figure out how to make things right, even if that means sharing the computer lab with Nathan. Can Allie fix her app, stop it from doing any more damage, and win back the friends it hurt-all before she steps on stage to present CLICK'D to the judges?

Before the review I want to mention to the teachers and librarians out there - there is a teacher's guide for Click'd! Check it out HERE! 

Right now I am teaching a coding class to 6th graders, and it has been really fun.  I love how coding makes them think and be ok with things not going right the first time! It really forces them to think through the problem and be ok with trial and error.  So when I was given this book for review I hoped it would fit with that.  I wasn't disappointed.  I was really pleased with how this book talked about coding.  It was factual about coding but not so much that the average kid would be lost.  It kept it at their level! I think the use of the app Allie created would hold their attention.  I could see them imagining how they might use an app like it at school!

Mostly though I liked how it is a story that kids can relate to at the middle school age.  All kids can relate to the idea of their deepest secrets seeing the light of day and the horror of being the one that causes that.  Allie is a great character throughout all that.  She's typical for the age in her reactions but also a great role model for how to handle something big like this.  I liked her a lot.  

In the end: I liked that it showed the fun and challenge of coding (for both boys and girls - with an emphasis on girls) and at the same time was just a good book about friendship and taking responsibility for a situation you caused! 

Sidenote- Allie's app is super cool and I wish it really existed!  

Yes I'd put this in the library!  I think kids would be interested in it - especially at my school where they have to take coding.