Team BFF: Race to the Finish!

Girls Who Code #2

by Stacia Deutsch, Reshma Saujani (Foreword)

Perfect for fans of The Babysitters Club and anyone interested in computer science, this series is published in partnership with the organization Girls Who Code!

Sophia and her coding club BFFs have the best time together. Sure, they work on coding projects, but mostly they gossip about crushes, eat cookies, and do totally silly impersonations. Now they're about to participate in their first hackathon--a full day of coding and meeting other coders--so it's time to step up their game!
Just when Sophia and her friends think their hackathon project is ready for the big time, a change of plans threatens to tear their group apart. Will they have each other's backs, or are they destined for an epic fail? They know that coding is all about teamwork and problem-solving--maybe friendship is, too!

Genres: Middle Grade, Childrens, Realistic Fiction, Friendship, Coding, Fiction, Contemporary

144 pages, Hardcover

First published October 31, 2017

About the author

#1 New York Times Best Selling Author, Stacia Deutsch has written more than 300 books.

In addition to her award-winning creative chapter book series entitled Blast to the Past, Stacia has also ghostwritten for a popular girls' mystery series, published non-fiction texts, and penned a young adult romantic comedy called In the Stars. She has also penned popular titles for Girls who Code Books 1 & 2 and several Spirit: Riding Free books.

Additionally, Stacia has written junior movie tie-in novelizations for summer blockbuster films, including HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA, the New York Times Best Seller: CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS JR. MOVIE NOVEL, and THE SMURFS MOVIE NOVELS.

Check out Stacia's website for more titles!

A bit more about me:
✥ Lives on a Ranch with 4 horses, 2 cats, 2 dogs and a lot of lizards
✥ Has an Masters in Fine Arts from Western State Colorado in Genre Fiction
✥ Was recently awarded a Doctor of Divinity honorary degree from Hebrew Union College
✥ Grew up in Denver, lived in Cincinnati, and now lives in California

Find her at www.staciadeutsch.com.
Email: staciadeutsch.writes@gmail.com
Twitter: @staciadeutsch, www.facebook/staciadeutsch, and www.instagram.com/staciadeutsch_writes/
Stacia lives in Temecula, California.

Reviews

[Susan Kennedy · Rating 4 out of 5]

These are great little books perfect for Middle School aged kids. My girls would have loved these. It is a great mixture of friendship and teamwork. I love that the girls are very positive and helpful to each other. They jump right in and help their friends when they are in a bind. There is no backstabbing and trouble making. It's just how it should be.

The teamwork is amazing. They join together and work out their problems whether it is personal or coding. I love that it is about coding and computer science. It puts enough in there to peek an interest and yet the book can be fun even if you aren't interested in coding.

Really well done and a fun read for those younger. Why can I not remember having fun books like this when I was growing up?

[felicialowj · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars. I enjoyed this more than the first book. I liked how it put story and character development first but still managed to include tips about coding. Also, the message about responsibility, grit, and empowerment while not quite subtle, was cutely and cleverly handled. I can see middle-graders loving this series.

[Emma Andje · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am so pleased to have a great example of friendship in a middle grade novel and one that happens to include STEM in it in such a large way as well. I loved the way the girls were able to ban together to help each other, problem solve, and just let loose and goof off. Their inclusivity of others and helpfulness to competitors provides wonderful role models for middle schoolers.
I appreciate what the author tried to do here with the second book in the Girls Who Code installment. However, I think she went a little overboard with trying to cram too much diversity in the novel; the way it was written felt forced. It is great that all of the girls in the coding group are of all different ethnicities, it gives children the chance to be able to identify with at least one of the girls in the group to a certain extent. While this is not impossible, I do not think it is entirely realistic. And, it could have worked, but with the way it was written it felt forced. It is a well-known fact in the book community that we need more diverse books, and especially need to have them in children's books so we can raise awareness of others' perspectives to children at a young age. But, this needs to be done in a way that feels natural to the story, which in this case it does not. It was as if all of the facts about people's backgrounds were presented but never delved into. For example, the main character in this book has a sister who is on the autism spectrum. This is where I had a hard time with this book. Many of the facts are mentioned, not shown, which is an important factor of great writing. Since this is a middle grade novel, the author had quite a bit of room in the word count to play with this aspect more and give better descriptions to the characters and their actions, because without it, the writing was rushed. In the first book, there is no mention of romantic relationships except for the main character’s older brother who is a senior in high school. This was something I loved about the first book and I was able to use this as a selling point to parents. In this second installment, though, the main character is in a blossoming relationship with a boy. It is not the biggest of problems, but I wish the author had held off on including relationships into the story for a book later in the series.
Despite my issues with this book, I still enjoyed it and will continue recommending it to customers. I may have to sell it differently because of the changes in the series, but the pros still outweigh the cons of this series.

I was given an ARC of this book from the publisher in return for an honest review.

[Tory · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ehhhhh. It's obviously meant to cater to those who think that people HAVE to have things exclusively catered to them in order to be interested in those things: "unless girls have cookie-cutter middle-school stories that happen to feature girls coding [albeit in a very nebulous, confusing way -- spoken as an adult], they'll never think that they themselves can code!" Probably an unpopular opinion, but I think anyone can do anything, and we don't need explicit examples [from every inclusive character under the sun -- I'm surprised there wasn't a pansexual trans* character represented] in order to be confident.

The whole crux of the story depended on Sophia's parents not trusting babysitters, and preferring that their daughter shirk her team commitments (and thereby not just leave her team hanging, but leave them DISQUALIFIED!) in order to babysit her three younger siblings, which I just found appalling. Also, the fact that neither parent seemed to find it important to properly communicate with each other or the kids -- I get that you're very busy, but C'MON!

A lame, saccharine story riddled with middle-school neuroses.

[Liz · Rating 3 out of 5]

This second one was a bit better than the first as it's diversity felt less marketing driven and more authentic. This will be a good series for 4/5/6 graders especially as it really does make coding and computer science so widely accessible.

[Marie the Librarian · Rating 4 out of 5]

I just adore this book. I love the friendships, the coding, the support and just the vibe of these books <3 SO healthy for young girls to read imo.

[QNPoohBear · Rating 4 out of 5]

The second book in the Girls Who Code series is from the POV of Sofia. Her mother works hard as a nurse, her father is always working and her Abuela is preoccupied by Sofia's little sisters. Sofia tries to help when she can but she has school, sports, an internship and best of all, coding club! Her coding club has been invited to their first ever hackathon where they will make a robot and test it in a maze and hopefully win prizes. Sofia can't wait to team up with her BFFs and enter the hackathon. Her crush, Sammy, will be there with his team too. When something comes up and Sofia is needed at home, how can she tell her friends? When the deadline for entry passes and Sofia still hasn't told her friends, she knows they'll be upset when they learn the truth. Can she figure out a way to help her family AND enter the hackathon?

I didn't like this one as much as the first. I liked the hackathon coding content, that was interesting. I liked the homage to the Babysitters Club (can you code a robot to babysit?). I did not like the crush aspect of the story or how Sofia's parents expect her to take on an enormous amount of responsibility. Some of her chores can wait and don't her little sisters have friends they can have play dates with for a day? Maybe not the 2-year-old but that's what babysitters are for. I found it hard to believe Sofia's parents don't believe in babysitters because they had ONE bad experience! (Hence Kristi creating the BSC with a set of rules!)

I didn't relate to Sofia that much. She's into sports and is interning with the high school football club. She's hard working like her parents but she deserves to have fun. I don't blame her for wanting her family to understand her enthusiasm for coding and see what she does. They're disrespectful to her not bothering to understand. Sure her parents are busy working but her dad is very dismissive and a control freak. I did not like him at all. Mom is distracted by work and having too many children. Abuela is the only likable adult in the family. She deserves a break to visit her sister more often than just when her sister has surgery!

Sofia's sisters are out of control! 6 year old Pearl just started dance lessons and refuses to take off her leotard. Is it such a big deal she wants to sleep in it? 2-year-old Rosie is bratty and gets away with it because she's the baby. 8-year-old Lola has autism so I can understand her being stressed out by a babysitter but if the sitter came to meet her and they talked about what's going to happen and call Abuela for any reason, then I think it could work.

The other girls in Rockin' Rockets are fun. I like how they're so diverse. Bits of their culture are quietly woven into the story. Sofia is Latina and the first scene shows some of Sofia's favorite Puerto Rican foods. Maya is a Stacy/Claudia type, very into fashion and very fashionable. She teases a bit too much about Sofia's crush on Sammy. Maya is of Chinese heritage and that also shows through her mom's cooking. Lucy is the Kristi of the group. She's single-focused and impatient to be doing something. Erin is the smart and talented one with coding experience. She's kind and sympathetic too. Leila is also smart with coding experience obviously a Muslim girl. They make a great team!

Sammy is a typical teenage boy, a total doofus who can't bring himself to ask a girl he likes to the dance. I think he wants to ask Maya though. He's not as bad as his buddy Bradley. Bradley is awful! He's arrogant and loves to brag. Teenagers!

Mrs. Clark is an awesome teacher. She's super cool and relaxed. She doesn't push the kids to work non-stop, she allows them to make mistakes and still come out on top. Ana Kamut is also a lot of fun for an adult. She's a woman in tech and that must not be easy. It must not be easy to tell the girls what they're doing wrong but let them figure it out! That's so hard! Zahira is a fun robot LOL! I love the concept.

This series is a lot of fun. I enjoy it for the most part. I hope to read more of them in the future.

[Nicole M. Hewitt · Rating 5 out of 5]

This review and many more can be found on my blog: Feed Your Fiction Addiction

The second book in the series focuses on Sophia, the sports-minded ex-best friend from the first book. One of the things that I liked about the books is that they stressed the fact that all of the girls in the coding club have different talents and interests besides coding. Lucy is relatively focused on all things tech, but Sophie’s sporty, Maya loves fashion and Erin enjoys theatre. It shows that you don’t have to be all about computers to enjoy coding and opens kids’ eyes to the myriad of ways that computers can apply to other areas of interest.

In this book, the coding group is all set to compete in a robotics competition, but Sophia runs into some issues with her family’s scheduling and instead of letting her friends know and trusting that they’ll have her back, she tries to fix the problems all on her own. Not surprisingly, that doesn’t work well. It’s not until she finally tells her friends what’s going on that they all work together to solve the problem.

Many middle school girls will probably relate to Sophia’s issues at home, where she feels a bit overlooked. Her family relies on her a lot to take care of her little sisters. I wasn’t a fan of Sophia’s parents—they really didn’t seem to care much about their daughter’s dreams or interests. I’m sure this has happened to almost all parents at one point or another—where you know something is important to your kid, but you just can’t make it happen scheduling-wise—but I thought that their attitude about it all was kind of cruel (I feel like I would have at least tried my very hardest to make things work out differently—it didn’t feel like Sophia’s parents tried very hard at all—her father even put up extra roadblocks at the very last minute). Still, I’m guessing the theme of feeling overlooked will resonate with a lot of kids.

This book has a little bit of a romantic subplot as well, which I’m sure a lot of middle school girls will enjoy. It was cute and I loved the way that it was all resolved. I don’t think this book tied in quite as much practical coding knowledge as the first book did, but we did get to see the girls in action at the robotics competition and see their problem-solving skills at work there.

Overall, this was a really fun read that I highly recommend to middle grade girls or even younger. Again, I give this book an easy 4/5 Stars

***Disclosure: I received this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. No other compensation was given and all opinions are my own.***

[Harker · Rating 3 out of 5]

Race to the Finish brings Sophia's perspective front and center in the confines of the girls' coding club. She not only has the difficulties of varying personalities within her club to maneuver, especially with the hackathon coming up!, but with regard to her family. So many expectations, so much pressure, so little time.

There's a lot of energy in the girls with respect to the things they love outside of coding, such as sports, jewelry, etc. This translates better for some than others into coding club activities and it shows. 

There's definitely a strong leaning toward moral fortitide here which I think is the ideal rather than the strict norm but hopefully the readers that are the age of the main characters will see that as something to work with that lay down for or ignore entirely.

I would have loved to get more time actually spent at the hackathon. More time seemed to be concentrated on Sophia's problem getting there than actually competing. Another thing: her parents were by far and away the most lax parents when it came to her and her friends changinging plans at the last minute. Even if the change was something that they would've done prior to a last minute emergency, the escapade of the Rocking Robotics Club was a bit how in the heck to me.

The cast seemed pretty diverse, but going from my experience of this book alone, I'm not sure how well I'd say the series does it overall. There are small inclusive pieces, such as Sophia's abuela and Leila's hijab, but in Sophia's case at least, since we spent so much time in her point of view, it felt dismissive.

As for whether you can read this book out of order from the other books, I'm not too sure about that. I feel like there's some personality set up for the characters that would have been beneficial. From the point of view of someone who has only read book two, there were times when they seemed a bit much.

Team BFF: Race to the Finish seems like a good companion to Code It! Create It! as well as a further addition to the Code Girls series. It's an encouraging novel for girls looking not for role models, exactly, but for girls very much like them that are interested in coding and other things and how those differing interests meld together.

Reshma Saujani's organization and continuing work opens doors not only fictionally but in the real world for girls that might still be looking for their place, that might have been told their place isn't available because it's "boy" territory. Never be afraid to explore your interests, like Lucy, Sophia, Maya, Erin, and Leila!

 

 

 

 

I received a copy of this book from Penguin Young Readers for promotional purposes and an honest review.

[Kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the first book a little better, but I still think it is a fun read for young girls (grades 4-6) to learn about coding and what they can do with it. This time, the girls go to a hackathon and learn a little bit about robotics. For me, Sophia's crush on Sammy became annoying over time. But I'm an adult and maybe young girls would like the "romance" part of the story.

I wonder if the part at the end doesn't reinforce the stereotype that boys are better at programming than girls. Perhaps the message is that you can still have fun coding even if you aren't the best, or that you will have failures, but keep on trying because it is part of learning? It would have been nice if the girls team was not alone in its failure. It just seems to send a message that boys are winners and girls are losers.

I also wonder about the part where Sophia's parents say she can't go to the hackathon because they need her to stay home to babysit and do household chores. Was this put in the story to show how girls often have obstacles that boys don't? I can't imagine any parent would do that to a boy. If Sophia were a boy, would she be expected to help out at home as much? I just think the parents of a boy would encourage the boy to participate in something like a hackathon and be proud of their boy for doing so. But since Sophia is a girl, she is supposed to put family first.

[Laura Roberts · Rating 5 out of 5]

These books are super cute, and definitely reminiscent of The Baby-Sitters Club, which were a favorite of mine when I was young. The second book in the "Girls Who Code" series, this one even hinges on a baby-sitter related problem, so the comparison is apt.

Unlike some of the weird reviewers who are railing against the diversity in the book's characters (I guess you only want to see white boys in a coding club?), I really love the fact that each of these girls has her own unique personality, quirks and foibles, and that the main theme of the stories is always about building friendships despite your differences.

I would've loved to see more coding happening outside of the Hackathon itself (Leila's idea for the Babysitter 3000 made me laugh), but I'm sure that in future books this will begin to happen more and more as the girls' skills continue to grow. Looking forward to reading more of these books in the future!

[Meli · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book two Team Bff Race to the finish is about Sophia Torres, who is an athlete, an “A” Student and has a hobby of Coding things like websites. Sophia lives with her three sisters, Mother, father and Grandmother. She is also held very responsible for taking care of things at home along with her siblings. So Sophia and her coding friends Leila, Lucy, Maya, and Erin decide to enter this thing called the Hackathon. which is an event, where they will spend hours coding a robot to actually move by using a computer motherboard. But then something happens and Sophia might not make it to Hackathon which will disqualify the entire group. In order to find out how the girls help Sofia, you will need to buy this book and read it. If you want to know my thoughts you find them at this link: https://melimimi.blogspot.com/2017/11...

[Yapha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sophia is excited for her coding club group of friends to participate in their first hackathon. They will have the opportunity to program a robot to run through a maze. During the week leading up to the hackathon, the friends must navigate a variety of issues relating to school, friends, and family. This is a fun book that shatters stereotypes about girls and technology. Recommended for grades 3 & up.

[Carmel · Rating 2 out of 5]

The writing was ordinary, that characters not very well developed, and storyline pretty boring- probably should only get 1 star! Also, judging by the cover I thought it was aimed more at 8-10 year olds but the storyline is definitely lower middle school. I don’t think this age group will be interested with this cover.

[Sophia Zheng]

I think this book is good. I learned to just do it and never give up. I recommend this other book called the friendship code.

[Colleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wasn’t sure at first about this book but I ended up really liking it. Loved the message of team work.

[Pam · Rating 4 out of 5]

The girls are part of a Hack-a-thon and work on code for their robot. They also deepen their friendships along the way.
More coding information to encourage young women to explore this field.

[Nora Geffre · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really liked it. I recommend this book to anyone out there who is trying to find their next book to read

[claire · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book!

[Dax · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great installment. I wish this was my experience with coding. This book is tons of fun and truly a wonderful way for kids to learn to code and just how to be good friends!!

[Jia ♥ · Rating 5 out of 5]

girl's who code books are the best. I loved this book and Maya is probably my fav.

[insy · Rating 3 out of 5]

not gonna lie I was excited to read this book because it's a children's book!! with a hijabi on the cover!!

[Ian Hrabe · Rating 2 out of 5]

The overall aim of this series is still excellent and my science-obsessed 7 year old loves them, so my beef here is that the parents in this installment SUCK. Like, I had to pause and tell my kid, “it’s not ok for parents to do this. Your mom and I would never do this to you.” Here, the spotlight girl who codes’ (this series works like Babysitters Club where every book follows a different girl in the group) parents basically force her to watch her siblings instead of attending a hack-a-thon. Mom is working, Dad has a last minute conference he “has to attend to bring in business to his real estate business.” Grandma has to visit her sister in the hospital. Babysitter? Parents got a crappy babysitter once and they refuse. It’s brutal stuff. You don’t do that to your kid. Dad cancel your damn conference, no conference is more important than some sort of event your kid desperately wants to go to to pursue an interest, especially after you already told her she could go. Unacceptable. Hence, this book stressed me out and of course she breaks down her parents and they relent to a babysitter but that kind of cheap plotting? Ehhhhhhh. But, I’m not the target audience here…

[Kent Archie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am a 67 year old professional software developer.
So I am way outside the target audience.
I have taught a lot of people at local colleges about computer programming
and I was curious about how the authors would introduce the topic to young people.
I thought this did OK at presenting how coders go about solving problems and manage their projects.

For me, I would have preferred more discussion of programming concepts like loops, functions, etc and less about whether the narrator will get asked to the dance.
But, as I said, I am not the target audience.
So if I knew any 6th grade girls I would give them these books.

[Julianna · Rating 5 out of 5]

No, fajna książka daję 5/5 gwiazdek. Ale na serio to EKSTRA-SUPER KSIĄŻKA. Jest to książka o kodowaniu. Ale i nie tylko. To też jest opowieść. To jest druga część z serii "dziewczyny kodują". POLECAM.

[CR · Rating 5 out of 5]

Girls Who Code is a fun series and I am so glad to have this one! I loved it cover to cover and I think readers of all ages will love this one. I donated this to my classroom so other kids can enjoy it to!

[Carolyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun read followup to book 1 of the series but told in the voice of Stacey rather than Lucy (bk 1). I'm curious to find out who narrates #3 and #4. Good middle school/high school read. Would recommend it for that age.

[HaZyBLuE · Rating 5 out of 5]

"A Really Cool Coding Book"

A fun way to begin to learn the basics of coding. My 8 year old daughter enjoys the characters and the stories, especially Sammy. We will definitely be continuing the series.

[myblackbookish_life · Rating 4 out of 5]

It should not have taken me this long to read but life happens! And this was the perfect series to start off my MG-reads year

[Oscar Furtado · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read it to my daughter. My rating is 4/5. A fun book about teamwork and problem solving.

My daughter’s rating: 5/5. Her comments: “I really like this book because in the book they do teamwork very well. And they Lost the hackathon but they didn’t give it a big reaction. Ok I LOVE it.”