Sama Crushes the Code - by Samaira Mehta (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Big-thinking Sama loves coding, but is she skilled enough to fit in at Tech Club? This is a playful and STEM-rich story inspired by the real life of its seventeen-year-old author.

Sama's starting middle school! Maybe Tech Club will be a good place to fit in. She's into solving problems, building clever machines, and collecting beautiful data, plus her friend Nancy has given her a cool book on coding. But everyone at Tech Club is already so good at coding--will Sama's contributions be enough for her to be included in the Code Crusher championship? Sama proposes a project to help a stressed-out bus driver develop a time-saving route, but the club leader thinks the coding isn't complex enough. When Sama befriends new neighbor Zoe (who built her own hovercraft!), however, the two girls inspire each other, and soon Sama bounces back with a bunny-based board game that teaches kids how to code while having fun. Could this game be the key to getting to the championship? Precise coding vocabulary and examples are woven seamlessly into this lively story, based on the real-life computer science adventures of its author, young tech entrepreneur Samaira Mehta.

Review Quotes

Technical concepts such as functions, parallelism, and queues are interwoven throughout, emphasizing how coding can be used both creatively and in service of community needs. . . . The outcome is a refreshing series opener centered around inclusion and accessibility in STEM spaces.
--Publishers Weekly

Joining a racially diverse student body in Alvarado's cleanly drawn panels, [Sama] displays lively intelligence, a vivid personality, and strong emotions. At once an engaging school story and a testimonial to the social and scientific value of coding.
--Kirkus Reviews

Coding language and functions enhance the narrative by introducing foundational coding concepts and highlighting Sama's inventive problem-solving mindset. Sama emerges as a likable, resilient protagonist whose perseverance makes her journey both relatable and inspiring, while Alvarado's playful artwork further engages readers through dynamic storytelling.
--Booklist

[A]n introductory exploration of coding applications. . . .
--School Library Journal

About the Author

Samaira Mehta is a seventeen-year-old high school junior and tech entrepreneur, described by Time magazine as one of the eight young leaders shaping the decade. As the founder of CoderBunnyz, CoderMindz, and CoderMarz--board games that teach coding and AI--her work has reached 750,000 people. She is a researcher at UCLA's Orsulic Lab, and her work on ovarian cancer detection and AI-driven healthcare solutions has been published in Nature. She has been featured on the Nasdaq billboard, in Vogue, and on the Today show, cementing her place as a rising innovator. As she prepares for college, Samaira Mehta is eager to explore human-centered computing, AI ethics, and the evolving relationship between technology and society. But above all, she remains committed to her mission: empowering the next generation to shape the future of technology.

Jenny Alvarado is the author-illustrator of Fridays Are for Churros and the Pencil and Eraser early graphic series. She lives with her partner, son, and little dog on the Space Coast of Florida.