Sunday, March 31, 2019

Swap'd by Tamara Ireland Stone - ESSENTIAL

Swap'd by Tamara Ireland Stone, 323 pages. Disney Hyperion, 2019. $17. 9781484786963.
Language: G (1 swear, 0 'F'); Mature content: G; Violence: G

BUYING ADVISORY: EL, MS - ESSENTIAL

AUDIENCE APPEAL: HIGH

Allie's newest assignment in Computer Science challenges her to mix up and reuse code from a variety of different projects--hers and friends--to create something new. With her CodeGirls friend, Courtney, she creates a new app called Swap'd that allows kids at school to buy and sell things in an auction-based game. Swap'd is an overnight success and Allie thinks it could make her a shoo-in for the summer Hackathon program--if she can finally decide to apply. The money from Swap'd will help her bring Courtney out for a visit during the Game Con weekend, and she might even be able to use the app to finagle a meeting with the cute boy she's flirted with on the bus! Everything seems to be falling into place--until it becomes apparent Allie hasn't actually thought of everything to make all these perfect plans work.

I loved Stone's first book featuring Allie and the CodeGirls--Click'd--and this one is no different. Its a great story that will appeal especially to a rising generation of computer coders, but really any young reader can appreciate it. I also really love that the book is totally clean (there is only one super tame swear toward the very end) and feels very realistic in its telling. I hope she writes more!

Reviewer: TC

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