Girls Who Code: Learn to Code and Change the World

Saujani, a former public advocate and Congressional hopeful, founded the nonprofit Girls Who Code in response to gender imbalance in the tech industry. In this accessible guidebook, she introduces five diverse girl characters (rendered in Tsurumi’s two-color cartoons, and also starring in a companion series of novels) who voice their questions and concerns in dialogue balloons (“Umm... I’m not sure I understand what a programming language is and why there are different ones”). As readers learn about designing, building, and testing coding projects, the girls’ growing confidence is evident. Saujani also introduces past female tech pioneers and includes advice from women currently working in various industry roles. For readers new to coding and computer science, Saujani makes its importance and potential clear, showing girls that coding is, in essence, a problem-solving tool that they can use to invent, explore, and take charge. Ages 10–up. Author’s agent: Richard Pine, Inkwell Management. Illustrator’s agent: Stephen Barr, Writers House. (Aug.)