Paths & Portals (Secret Coders Series #2)

by Gene Luen Yang

Overview

There's something lurking beneath the surface of Stately Academy—literally. In a secret underground classroom Hopper, Eni, and Josh discover that the campus was once home to the Bee School, an institute where teachers, students, and robots worked together to unravel the mysteries of coding. Hopper and her friends are eager to follow in this tradition and become top-rate coders. But why are Principal Dean and the rugby team suddenly so interested in their extracurricular activities?

From graphic novel superstar (and high school computer programming teacher) Gene Luen Yang comes the second volume of Secret Coders, a wildly entertaining new series that combines logic puzzles and basic programming instruction with a page-turning mystery plot!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781626723405
Publisher:	First Second
Publication date:	08/30/2016
Series:	Utopia , #2
Pages:	96
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.60(h) x 0.50(d)
Lexile:	GN430L (what's this?)
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

Gene Luen Yang has written and drawn many comics, including the hit Avatar: The Last Airbender series.American Born Chinese was a National Book Award finalist, as well as the winner of the Printz Award and an Eisner Award. He also won the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Boxers & Saints. Yang lives in the San Francisco Bay Area. geneyang.com

Mike Holmes has drawn for the comics series Bravest Warriors, Adventure Time, and the viral art project Mikenesses. His books include the True Story collection (2011), This American Drive (2009), and Shenanigans. He lives with a cat named Ella, who is his best buddy.

Editorial Reviews

"Gene Yang brings computer coding to life." —Entertainment Weekly

"Gene Luen Yang’s talent is prodigious, his enthusiasm contagious....Even this confirmed technophobe was ready to learn coding." —Katherine Applegate, author of Crenshaw and The One and Only Ivan

"Well-rounded, informative, and gamelike, this will appeal to plenty of graphic-novel fans." —Booklist

From the Publisher

2016-04-16
Following Secret Coders (2015), Hopper, Josh, and Eni unlock more of Stately Academy's secrets—but they learn they aren't the only ones doing so. Starting off right at the cliffhanger from the previous book, the multicultural protagonists—Asian-American Hopper, African-American Eni, and racially indeterminate Josh—must code their way out of custodian Mr. Bee's challenge. Through teamwork and trial and error, they succeed, and Mr. Bee gives them a secret history of the secret, abandoned Bee School beneath Stately. After an efficient rundown on the programming language Logo, he shows the kids the artistic possibilities of code, a lesson promptly used by Hopper to cheat on her Chinese homework. She's found out, but trash duty with Mr. Bee is an ineffectual punishment now that it has become programming with Professor Bee, and even Josh misbehaves his way into joining. With this second volume, character development comes to the fore, and a central interpersonal storyline finds the three unifying into a trio. Helping to resolve the simmering conflict between Hopper and Josh are encounters with rugby team bullies, who walk a line between comical and intimidating in a way that serves tone while maintaining tension. Holmes' green, gray, and white panels convey characterization, action, and coding principles with equal ease.Between the creativity-encouraging coding lessons and the character-driven plotlines, this sequel charms from PenDown to PenUp. (Graphic fiction. 8-14)

Kirkus Reviews

The mystery deepens and a new friendship is forged in this second installment of the graphic novel “Secret Coders” series. The story starts where the first book left off, with twelve-year-old Hopper and her friends in the middle of a coding challenge. Working together, they solve the puzzle and learn something about their school’s history. It turns out that the school janitor, Mr. Bee, was once a professor in a prestigious coding academy, where the students created programs using his turtle robots. When the school principal takes an interest in Mr. Bee’s turtles, Hopper and her friends know that something is amiss. Alongside the school’s mysteries, Hopper and Eni get to know Josh better, as they find out about his expert keyboarding skills. There are codes throughout the book for the reader to solve, with possible solutions provided. As with the first installment, this book is an engaging way to interest students in coding. Hopper must also deal with more typical middle school problems, such as homework and getting cut from the basketball team. The atmosphere of mystery makes the story engaging on its own, with the coding as a great additional bonus. Reviewer: Lisa Czirr; Ages 8 to 12.

Children's Literature - Lisa Czirr

08/01/2016
Gr 4–6—In this second installment in Yang and Holmes's graphic novel series, which takes place right after the first one ended, the coding gets serious. Students Eni and Hopper and the tag-along comic relief Josh expand their skills as they are tutored by Mr. Bee in his coding classroom and laboratory deep under the school. Mr. Bee reveals to them the history of his fall from grace and his former coding school and drops hints that he knew Hopper's father. The characters are diverse, and this volume begins to touch more on their family lives. The rugby team, hired by the evil principal to find Mr. Bee's most powerful robot turtle, provides most of the villainous action. The narrative is spread a little thin, but the clearly articulated coding lessons are integrated into the plot through the emotional connections among the characters. The children are learning to code with the language Logo, with clever allusions to Logo's history. The black, white, and green drawings are simple and dynamic, with slapstick humor and cleverly depicted coding problems. VERDICT This sequel and the first book are essential for any graphic novel collection and libraries where kids are interested in coding.—Lisa Nowlain, Darien Library, CT

School Library Journal