Lauren Ipsum: A Story About Computer Science and Other Improbable Things

Lauren Ipsum: A Story About Computer Science and Other Improbable Things offers multiple levels of reading experience. First, there is the story of young Lauren Ipsum, an adventurous girl who resists her mother’s suggestion that summer school would be a good idea. While getting away from her troubles in the woods, Laurie becomes lost in an amazingly complicated and fascinating place: Userland. Readers will enjoy Laurie’s resourceful problem-solving as she figures out various puzzles. Imaginative characters include the Jargon (swamp creatures who “feed on attention” but will “settle for fear and confusion”), Achilles the Logician, and Fresnel Goodglass, who likes to “start with big ideas and make them smaller.” The latter section of the book explains aspects of logic and computer science that emerge in Laurie’s story, with concepts like algorithm, axiom, cryptography, symbol, infinite regress, and much more.

This “Field Guide to Userland” is extremely helpful for understanding parts of the story, such as “Lauren Ipsum, you are hereby under arrest for Attempted Mythology, Counterfeiting Fair Coins, two counts of Impersonating a Composer, Hacking in the Third Degree, and Miscellaneous Mopery with Intent to Creep!” Although my seven-year-old daughter has been an independent reader for some time, she needs parental support to navigate the complexity of this book, especially the Field Guide. However, she very much appreciates the book’s spirit of adventure and playful storytelling. I look forward to sharing this exciting book with my child as we learn about computer science together.