Adult Book Club Pick: Crushing It

Crushing It
by Lorelei Parker
Kensington Books
2020
336 pages
ISBN: 9781496725714

Available June 30, 2020

Gamer and coder, Sierra Reid is dying to represent her company at a gaming convention in Europe, but boss Reynold has the final say, and he is unsure Sierra has the gift of public speaking. In a presentation for him, Sierra is so nervous, her stomach rumbles loudly enough to be heard across the room. Mortified, Sierra turns to Aida, her best friend, coworker, and roommate for ideas.

Aida suggests they go to a local bar where they are hosting their first ever annual Chagrin Challenge night, a competition where anyone can bring their most embarrassing stories and diary entries and read them to the audience. Aida pushes Sierra to read a an embarrassing diary entry from college. She'll get practice speaking to an audience. Sierra goes along with the idea and nearly chickens out, but in the moment she stands before the room and reads an entry about a college crush named Tristan. The audience laughs at funny, heart on her sleeve college Sierra, and this Sierra feels pretty good about everything until the next person up is TRISTAN! Her Tristan. Sierra looks for an exit, but Tristan is flattered. The night couldn't go any better, and the top performers advance to the next round in a week. Sierra and Tristan both advance.

Sorting her feelings out for ex-crush Tristan, overcoming her anxiety and speaking in front of an audience, and discovering new (crush) feelings for someone Sierra never saw coming is enough for anyone  to handle. On top of that, she must convince her boss she knows more about Castle Crush (her game) than anyone else, and she does. But is knowing the game enough to conquer her fears and present it to a room of international gamers?

Recommended for romance fans and gamers and book clubs. A fun read with enough comic moments to entertain. Women in gaming need representation in print and movies, and Crushing It answers that need.

YA Pick: Warcross

Warcross
by Marie Lu
G.P. Putnam's Sons
2017
353 pages
ISBN: 9780399547966


Goggles on. Enter Warcross. 

Warcross is not just a game; it's an alternate reality lifestyle embraced by millions worldwide. In a decade, professional gamers and ordinary people have become hooked on a lifestyle that enables them to escape the mundane of every day. Hooked is the key word. Some people are so wrapped up in Warcross, they illegally bet all their money and end up homeless or dead.

Warcross inventor Hideo Tanaka becomes a billionaire. Emika Chen is just a girl when she sees his photo for the first time. She follows his career and learns code due to her infatuation for him.

Emika  is a bounty hunter who collects money when she catches illegal betters on Warcross, but she's beyond living paycheck to paycheck. She's living meal to meal and her landlord is threatening eviction. Emika corners a criminal worth a hefty $5000 only to lose him again.  Distraught, Emika is about to give up and become homeless when she slips on her Warcross  neurolink.

Emika is not a pro by any means but she knows code and she's discovered a few weak areas  of the game.  Never before has she thought of sneaking in, but times are tough. Emika slips into the game and steals a valuable piece which captures  Hideo's attention. She is just the type of girl he's looking for. Hideo contacts her, pays her debts and hires her. Hideo needs someone for security. Someone sneaky. Someone no one in his company knows. Emika is the perfect person. No one will suspect a player to be security.

Soon Emika becomes a worldwide celebrity of the game. The matches are bigger than the Super Bowl, but Emika has a job to do. She has to find out who is bugging the game and why. Emika is living a surreal experience: she has fantasized about meeting Hideo for years and now she's working for him. All is not as it seems.

Warcross is a slam dunk and a high powered adrenaline rush. Gamers will delight. If someone doesn't develop Warcross as a real game, it's a missed opportunity. Cover art is spectacular. Kudos to the marketing and graphic arts team.

Highly, highly recommended grade 8 and up. Reluctant readers who enjoy video games may be intrigued.

FTC Required Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. I did not receive monetary compensation for this review.

Hour of Code December 5-11: New games, new codes, new apps

New games, new codes and new apps! December 5-11  is fast approaching. Take a look here for all that is NEW!  

Teachers, sign up your students for an EVENT! 
Join millions of students worldwide in learning code.
Go beyond the event and teach all year. The site is full of content for coding.

Hour of Code: Begins December 5-11, 2016

Hour of Code

Hour of Code December 5-11, 2016—Join millions of students worldwide  Hour of Code 2016

Video “Computer Science Is Changing Everything”-watch

“Why I Code” –watch inspirational video

Watch the video intro on Youtube

Learn How To Code for Hour of Code. Play the games and learn. Play Minecraft, Star Wars, and help Anna and Elsa on ice! Play all three code games. All ages

Code.org

Go to Code.org

Create an account and REMEMBER your login and password information !

You will need to sign in each time if you want to print certificates.

Click on Try Hour of Code

Type in https://hourofcode.com/inf

WATCH ALL VIDEOS and play the games all the way through.

You will learn about EVENTS; PRINT your certificate when you finish the game.

Intermediate Code:

Introduction to Javascript- learn Java from Khan Academy. 

Build your own game with Tynkor Use Code Monster, K-3, Dragon Dash, grade 3+, Tynker + Minecraft, grade 6+

The Easiest Way To Mod Minecraft—sign up and learn new skills. How to modify Minecraft

Bill Gates Explains If/IfElse Statements-video

Mark Zuckerburg Teaches REPEAT LOOPS-video

For Teachers:

Teachers Guide and Tips

Get tips and watch videos; sign up for FREE and help your students learn code! 

Compiled by Pamela Thompson http://booksbypamelathompson.blogspot.com/

feel free to use any information and links as long as you credit the site and link. If you are using my entire blogpost, please link back to this blog. Thank you! Pamela 

Hey, Gamers! Learn Code and Develop Your Own Games! Hour of Code: December 5-11, 2016

Hour of Code

Hour of Code December 5-11, 2016—Join millions of students worldwide  Hour of Code 2016

Video “Computer Science Is Changing Everything”-watch

“Why I Code” –watch inspirational video

Watch the video intro on Youtube

Learn How To Code for Hour of Code. Play the games and learn. Play Minecraft, Star Wars, and help Anna and Elsa on ice! Play all three code games. All ages

Code.org

Go to Code.org

Create an account and REMEMBER your login and password information !

You will need to sign in each time if you want to print certificates.

Click on Try Hour of Code

Type in https://hourofcode.com/inf

WATCH ALL VIDEOS and play the games all the way through.

You will learn about EVENTS; PRINT your certificate when you finish the game.

Intermediate Code:

Introduction to Javascript- learn Java from Khan Academy. 

Build your own game with Tynkor Use Code Monster, K-3, Dragon Dash, grade 3+, Tynker + Minecraft, grade 6+

The Easiest Way To Mod Minecraft—sign up and learn new skills. How to modify Minecraft

Bill Gates Explains If/IfElse Statements-video

Mark Zuckerburg Teaches REPEAT LOOPS-video

For Teachers:

Teachers Guide and Tips

Get tips and watch videos; sign up for FREE and help your students learn code! 

Compiled by Pamela Thompson, LMS

Tech Alert: Star Wars Lightsaber Escape

New tech now trending! Google Chrome Lightsaber Escape turns your phone into a lightsaber. Play with your desktop (tablets are not supported) and use your phone as a lightsaber. You have to see this to believe it! From techcrunch, watch the video. The Lightsaber Escape is the last story on this brief tech update.

Image from Lucasfilms

                    Happy gaming and May the Force Be With You! The Force Awakens!

Code Workshop: Learning Code: So Easy Even a Zombie Can Learn

I offered a Code Workshop to grades 6-8 at each lunch shift on Tuesdays. We began here.

1. Start with the Hour of Code. You can print a certificate at the end.
2. Then I took kids through several learning games: Anna and Elsa, the tutorial featuring Zombies vs. plants, and Flappy Birds.

3. Many students flew through the tutorials. Really, everything you need is right here. Let kids explore. I stayed a few steps ahead of them--most of the time.
4. After exploring code.org, we graduated to Code Academy learning html and JavaScript.
5. We also spent many hours  in Khan Academy.
6. You may also want to check out Scratch.

Using all the free websites, programs, and games is bound to keep your coders happy for the entire year and then some!

Outcome: I saw all types of kids in the library. Many of the older students I hadn't seen in some time began coming in for coding. On Wednesday-Friday, students who wanted to code could come in at lunch and use computers on their own. Once you turn them loose, you will be surprised what they build. The one rule: Keep only on sites that we had already visited as a group. If they found something on another site from home, they could share that with me and I would decide whether or not to share with the entire group.

Word gets around quickly. I had teachers coming to me within days and wondering what the heck coding is? What are the students talking about? What is going on in the library?

Pretty soon,  I was answering questions on the phone from other schools and emails from far and wide. Visitors came to see the kids using code and tweeted out news.

Don't be afraid to try this! It's fun! And as our posters around school say: Even a zombie can learn code!