Girls Who Code

Girls Who Code is an illustrated introduction to computer science for young readers, written by Reshma Saujani, the founder of the nonprofit Girls Who Code. Since 2012 her organization has taught computing skills to more than 40,000 girls across the United States, and here she invites readers to join in and see themselves as people who code.

The book mixes practical explanation with encouragement. Coding principles are laid out in plain, down-to-earth terms, and lively artwork appears on every page in a bold two-color design. Alongside the lessons are true stories of girls and women whose work takes them to places like Pixar and NASA, showing how far computer science reaches into everyday life.

Saujani's central point is that coding is not a separate world for a certain type of person. Whether a reader loves sports, art, baking, student government or social justice, programming can help her pursue that interest and turn her goals into reality. The book points toward building apps, games and robots, and toward using those skills to make the world a better place.

It is meant for girls who have never written a line of code, for those who already code, and for the parents raising them.