By Piranha T.
I can’t remember a time before music.
I can’t remember the first time I heard
“Mary Had a Little Lamb”
“Clair de Lune”
“Rhapsody in Blue.”
Before this year
All my friends were like songs that I knew by heart.
-Excerpt from Emmy in the Key of Code
Twelve-year-old Emmy loves music. She’s heard songs for so long she can’t remember life without them; music is a tangible part of her life. With a pianist father and an opera-singing mother, she’s never wanted anything more than to be a musician, too. But no matter how hard she tries, she’s never been able to carry a note or play a tune. After years of musical disappointments, she knows she can’t pretend to be what she isn’t. Still, she’s disheartened when, in her new school in San Francisco, she’s placed not in a music class, but in Computer Science.
But from the first time Emmy enters the computer lab—and meets the teacher, Ms. Delaney—she discovers a new type of music: the music of a keyboard and lines of code. Coding helps Emmy find a place in her new school, a teacher who she cares about, and even a best friend.
One day we will learn what [the code] does.
Every word. Every line.
Every note played on the keyboard.
But right now…it’s just music
Written in the language called Java.
-Excerpt from Emmy in the Key of Code
Just as Emmy begins to find a place in her new school—one made from lines of code, not notes of music—the last thing she expects happens, and she’s left struggling to come to terms with an event which changes everything.
When I started reading Emmy in the Key of Code, it wasn’t by any recommendation; it was just because it had an interesting title and a cool cover. But this is a book I’ve been telling everyone I know to read. I love the way Emmy developed and learned her true talents as a coder, made friends, and overcame her struggles with self-confidence. She’s a character I fell in love with both for her courage and talents but also her realism; I found myself instantly connecting with her because she feels so true. All the situations she fell into, and the other characters she encountered, were so realistic that it felt like I was moving through the story right next to Emmy. This book is written in rhythmic free verse interspersed with lines of code, with musical terms used throughout, which added to the story and the feel of this book as a whole. Aimee Lucido effortlessly combines elements of coding, music, women in science, bullying, moving, friendship, and self-discovery in a truly outstanding way. I highly recommend Emmy in the Key of Code to readers ages ten and up, particularly those who love science, math, or music.
Notes: We interviewed author Aimee Lucido, which you can read here. And we selected Emmy in the Key of Code as one of our favorites from 2020!
I can’t remember a time before music.
I can’t remember the first time I heard
“Mary Had a Little Lamb”
“Clair de Lune”
“Rhapsody in Blue.”
Before this year
All my friends were like songs that I knew by heart.
-Excerpt from Emmy in the Key of Code
Twelve-year-old Emmy loves music. She’s heard songs for so long she can’t remember life without them; music is a tangible part of her life. With a pianist father and an opera-singing mother, she’s never wanted anything more than to be a musician, too. But no matter how hard she tries, she’s never been able to carry a note or play a tune. After years of musical disappointments, she knows she can’t pretend to be what she isn’t. Still, she’s disheartened when, in her new school in San Francisco, she’s placed not in a music class, but in Computer Science.
But from the first time Emmy enters the computer lab—and meets the teacher, Ms. Delaney—she discovers a new type of music: the music of a keyboard and lines of code. Coding helps Emmy find a place in her new school, a teacher who she cares about, and even a best friend.
One day we will learn what [the code] does.
Every word. Every line.
Every note played on the keyboard.
But right now…it’s just music
Written in the language called Java.
-Excerpt from Emmy in the Key of Code
Just as Emmy begins to find a place in her new school—one made from lines of code, not notes of music—the last thing she expects happens, and she’s left struggling to come to terms with an event which changes everything.
When I started reading Emmy in the Key of Code, it wasn’t by any recommendation; it was just because it had an interesting title and a cool cover. But this is a book I’ve been telling everyone I know to read. I love the way Emmy developed and learned her true talents as a coder, made friends, and overcame her struggles with self-confidence. She’s a character I fell in love with both for her courage and talents but also her realism; I found myself instantly connecting with her because she feels so true. All the situations she fell into, and the other characters she encountered, were so realistic that it felt like I was moving through the story right next to Emmy. This book is written in rhythmic free verse interspersed with lines of code, with musical terms used throughout, which added to the story and the feel of this book as a whole. Aimee Lucido effortlessly combines elements of coding, music, women in science, bullying, moving, friendship, and self-discovery in a truly outstanding way. I highly recommend Emmy in the Key of Code to readers ages ten and up, particularly those who love science, math, or music.
Notes: We interviewed author Aimee Lucido, which you can read here. And we selected Emmy in the Key of Code as one of our favorites from 2020!
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