Hacking the Code is a fun, friendship-centered story that shows children how every brain works differently, and how we all have different strengths.Ā
Kees and his best friend are having way too much fun doing what they do best at school, and that definitely does not involve sitting in class. From explosions, sliding wallets, a secret friend group, to an annoyed principal, soon Kees will have to face his most daunting punishment yet.Ā
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Join Kees in his adventurous journey, zig-zagging through his elementary school days as a dyslexic kid.Ā Ā
Designed with the reluctant reader in mind, full of illustrations.
Fans of Diary of a Wimpy Kid will appreciate this relatable, eye opening tale that draws you in straight away.
Illustrated by Mads Johan Ćgaard.
Hacking the Code is a fun, friendship-centered story that shows children how every brain works differently, and how we all have different strengths.Ā
Kees and his best friend are having way too much fun doing what they do best at school, and that definitely does not involve sitting in class. From explosions, sliding wallets, a secret friend group, to an annoyed principal, soon Kees will have to face his most daunting punishment yet.Ā
Ā
Join Kees in his adventurous journey, zig-zagging through his elementary school days as a dyslexic kid.Ā Ā
Designed with the reluctant reader in mind, full of illustrations.
Fans of Diary of a Wimpy Kid will appreciate this relatable, eye opening tale that draws you in straight away.
Illustrated by Mads Johan Ćgaard.
1 Strike One
āNot so fast, Bobby.āĀ
Mom scrambles out the door behind my little brother.Ā
āYeah, Bobble. You donāt have to be the first at school ALL the time!āĀ Ā
Iām following in my momās tracks, trying not to explode. My little brother always has to be first.
First into class.
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First to finish making his lunch in the morning.
First to tie his shoes.
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First to finish his homework.
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First to read a book.
First in EVERYTHING!!!Ā
Itās really annoying.
Bobble can be so irritating with his pencil behind his ear and a book in his hand, looking like Mr. Smartypants.Ā
I call him Bobble. Kind of like Bobby, but more annoying.Ā
What bothers me most is that heās lightyears ahead of me in reading. Iām in 5th grade, heās in 3rdāand while Iām barely able to get through a page (without pictures) in a day, heās talking about all the chapters heās read, every single night. The bookworm.
As usual, Iām staying as far away from him and Mom as I can because I always pick up my best friend, Pete, on my way to school. And I donāt want Bobble interfering.
We live two doors down from each other, which is the best thing ever.Ā
Pete and I have known each other from way back when we played together in the sandbox. Unlike me, he is never worried about anything. Most of the time, Pete is kicking a soccer ball around his front yard when I come to pick him up for school, which is exactly what heās doing today.Ā
āYo, Kees! Whatās up with your socks today?ā Pete catches the ball with his feet and smiles.
āJust for you, Iām wearing one with the Ajaxās team colorsāred with white stars.ā Ajax is a Dutch soccer team, and Peteās favorite. I could have said that the red and white was for the Angels, a baseball team, but Pete prefers soccer.
I started wearing a different sock on each foot ever since we had a quiz on left and right. Itās impossible for me to remember which is which. And believe me, Iāve tried.
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So, in the end, I decided to wear a red sock with rockets on my right foot and one with lightbulbs on my left foot for the quiz. It worked, and ever since, I wear a different sock on each foot. Itās kind of my signature look.
Pete and I have been in the same class a couple times. I donāt know what I would have done without him. We are a great team. If thereās a group project, we always try to do it together. If the teacher lets us, that is. Pete is good at writing things up. Iām notābut I am good at making things, which Pete isnāt good at. Heās got two left hands.Ā
Like the volcano project from papier mĆ¢chĆ© in fourth grade. I made the volcano, and Pete wrote the journal about the project.Ā
We also stick up for each other in handball disputes. Not to mention, we love to play a good prank.Ā
Like last week, right after school. After most people had left, we decided it was the perfect time for a good trick. We tied an old wallet onto a long fishing line, then put a few dollar bills in it, sticking out just far enough to show a little. We tossed the wallet on the sidewalk and hid behind the bushes.Ā
Sure enough, our principal, Mr. Lamares, walked out. Oh, yeah! He saw the wallet and bent forward to pick it up. Yank! Pete pulled the string, and Mr. Lamares reared back looking like he saw a cockroach. Pete had to hold his hand over my mouth to smother my laugh.Ā
We actually would have been better off running away, but we had to reel in our money first. However, we underestimated our principalās base-jumping skills as he easily jumped on the sliding wallet.Ā
He grabbed the wallet, tugged on the fishing line, and sneered, āOkay, show yourself if you want your money back.āĀ
Oh, man!
Unfortunately, this was not the first time we met the principal in a surprising way. (The first time was because of our glue stick incident. That was when we catapulted all the glue sticks we could find at the classroom ceiling, making it look like an icicle cave. Yep, weāve always got a lot of fun going on.)
āAh, here we have our infamous duo,ā he said. āLet me guess, Kees had this marvelous idea and Pete provided the cash?ā
Off we marched into the principalās office (again). Our parents had to pick us up, and we got lunchtime trash duty for a week, which actually wasnāt that bad. I can think of worse things like staying in during breaks, which would kill me. I really need to blow off steam and run free after a morning in class trying to read and write, which is like hacking code for me. Itās like impossible for me to decipher what it says on a page as fast as the rest of the class and even harder for me to write. I am doing it letter by letter.Ā
Anyway, Iād take trash duty over missing recess any day, but, I am not going to be the one to tell Mr. Lamares, and letās hope he never finds out!Ā
Kees is good at science, fixing things with his hands, making friends, drawing, solving other people's problems, and pulling pranks. However, because of his dyslexia, he is terrible at reading, spelling and writing. After playing a prank on the teachers by changing the channel on their tv, he and his friend, Pete, end up having to write an essay about the hardest thing they've ever done. His friend gets it done in no time, but Kees can't think of anything to write. He has two weeks to do it Can he manage?
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Having lived with it myself for so long, I could easily relate to Kees and what he was going through with his dyslexia. Iāve read a lot of books about kids in the story who have dyslexia, but none of them have accurately depicted the emotions one feels of frustration, feeling stupid, being uncomfortable reading allowed, and feeling like you have to hack a code or try harder than everyone else. This one did. Additionally, the author brought to life Kees' friends, making each one unique. Their character dynamics were intriguing. Although to some the principal and teachers may seem underdeveloped, I found them to be realistic of what kids with dyslexia sometimes encounter. There are often well-meaning teachers out there, who, unless theyāve been in Kees' shoes, wouldnāt understand what he was going through in the book. The comparison of the Apple vs Android brains was fun and unique. The illustrations were detailed and added a fun, complementary element to the text. The mix of humor and seriousness was done well and neither overwhelmed the book. I loved the font on this book. It was more bottom heavy on the text, which made it easier to read. The white space arrangement was also helpful. Overall, Iād highly recommend this story to any younger readers who have ever felt frustrated at school or felt different from everyone else. This would also be a great book to read with any kid who has recently found out theyāre dyslexic.Ā