In the Key of Code

An original, inventive and heart-warming novel about a lonely new girl and an unlikely friendship formed in a school coding club, that will appeal to fans of Sarah Crossan.

When twelve-year-old Emmy’s musical family moves to California so her dad can take a job with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, Emmy has never felt more out of tune. But when she ends up in a computer science club, she finds that she can understand code through a language she is familiar with: music. Slowly, Emmy makes friends with Abigail and the two girls start to discover their voices through the programming language of Java. Extraordinarily crafted, the novel begins to incorporate Java’s syntax and concepts as Emmy, and ultimately the reader, learns to think in code. By the end, Emmy doesn’t feel like a wrong note, but like a musician in the world’s most beautiful symphony.

Told in verse, the innovative form of the novel allows the writer to explore the ways coding, music and language intersect. Perfect as poetry becomes more popular among young people.

Debut middle-grade novel written by a software engineer who is an advocate for women in technology.
A ground-breaking and innovative exploration of STEAM in fiction: will inspire readers not previously engaged with the subject.