Minecraft Creator Markus "Notch" Persson

Reviewed by: Bernie Alie - Kennebunk Free Library, Kennebunk, ME, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: August 9, 2016

Review

Grades 3-6

Part of the STEM Trailblazer Bios series.

A general introduction to the creator of the popular Minecraft game. The focus is on his programming skills and jobs in the technical field; only one paragraph presents the fact that he married and divorced, and that his father committed suicide. Stock photos on every page provide interest and break up the text. There are no photos of Persson as a child.

Five "Tech Talk" boxes are interspersed and refer back to three sources. A timeline, source notes, glossary, index and table of contents are included. Books and websites for further information are suggested, including crunchzilla, which will get students coding right away. Although the series is listed as STEM Trailblazers Bios, the additional resources on the Lerner website, www.lerneresource.com, are listed alphabetically under "Trailblazer Biographies" which took awhile to find.

Teachers and students will find this title useful for biography assignments. It will inspire gamers and children interested in computer programming. Children, especially those drawn to programming, will find a hard-working role model.

Overall Book Score: very good