C.J. Castillo writes contemporary fiction about the hidden systems that shape what young people see, feel, and want online. Children of the Code is a debut, and it doesn't ask readers to take the author's word for anything. Its authority comes from its evidence. Every real case behind the story is named. Every mechanism is sourced. The line between fact and fiction is drawn in plain sight, so readers can check the work themselves. Castillo wrote the book after reaching a hard conclusion: these systems come to understand the young people who use them better than the adults closest to them do — and that was never a glitch. It was the design working as intended. The book is written for the young people most exposed to that design, and for the adults who love them. It doesn't try to reassure them. It hands them a way to see the machine clearly — and a reason to look up.