I’ve recently read Girl Code: Gaming, Going Viral and Getting It Done by Andrea Gonzales and Sophie Houser and I loved it! This is a Teen Nonfiction/ Memoir/ Technology about two girls, Andy and Sophie who met in Girls Who Code Camp in NY and created an amazing game Tampon Run. I had walked back and forth in front of this book for weeks unable to decide if I wanted to read it until my coworker pulled it off the New Shelf and told me that she thought of me when she saw it, so I just had to read it.
As a gamer and feminist myself, I hate to admit that I didn’t know of this game until I read the book. So the game, Tampon Run, the player is a girl who is running down the street and when bad guys come her way, she throws tampons at them instead of shooting guns. I love the added commentary that it is more acceptable for games to show blood and gore from bullets and bombs, but it’s taboo to discuss blood from menstruation.
What I also loved about this book was the glimpse into the technology world that they experienced. I’ve been a maker, techie, and lover of technology for years but haven’t seen the “Big Business” side of some of the players in the digital industry. My own father is a computer programmer, but he “rents” himself out to companies to work on projects to help the management of their data (he briefly worked with Wendy’s HQ and I always had to giggle when I asked how many Jr. Bacon Cheeseburgers he ate while on that project- because I would.) I especially loved seeing not only teens being shown the potential profession of working in digital business but also GIRLS! So much of the information technology field is filled with men, that we need as many ladies as possible to get out there and express their coding skills. That’s why I love my position of being a librarian since I can direct the future work force into this direction, but part of me is kicking myself for not trying or knowing to look into Computer Science in college.
This was a great book to supplement my research for my Coding Club next year. I’m super excited to get that off the ground and encourage my library kids to not just play Minecraft or Roblox but learn the science behind what we’re all telling the computers to do. This book includes coding information in the back if you want to take a look at some of their code!
STEAM Librarian 