Chip Rogers, Computer Whiz

By Seymour Simon

A computer whiz uses his computer and the help of a friend to track down a gem robber at the City Museum. Readers are invited to use their home computers to solve the mystery. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0688038557
• ISBN13: 9780688038557
• Release Date: January 1984
• Publisher: William Morrow & Company
• Length: 84 Pages
• Weight: 0.60 lbs.
• Age Range: 7 to 10 years
• Grade Range: Grades 2 to 5

Customer Reviews

Dated computer technology, still can be read with benefit

This book is very dated in terms of computer technology, the computer whiz writes programs in BASIC on a computer with 16K of memory. Chip and his best friend Katie are allowed to work on the computers in the basement of a museum. Katie notices that some of the valuable gems in a case have been switched. Therefore, Chip and Katie decide to stake out the case to find out who the culprit is. They have a list of suspects, but none appears to be a more likely one. Unfortunately, Chip falls asleep on stakeout and misses watching an additional transfer of jewels. However, they have a list of facts that he programs into his computer. The complete program is included in the book. It is five pages of BASIC code that could be entered and run. If that is done, then the solution will be generated. Readers are encouraged to type the code into their computer and run it. Once they have the answer, Chip and Katie go to the museum director with their information and the thief is apprehended. Although the computing makes the story somewhat archaic, there is still enough here to make it interesting for a child. It is a mystery with many clues where a successful and logical analysis will lead to a solution.