The Impossible Fortress by Jason Rekulak

It's 1987 in suburban New Jersey and all Billy can think about is using his Commodore 64 to program video games. Billy and his best friends Alf and Clark also cannot stop thinking about getting their hands on the current Playboy issue with Vanna White on the cover--but they are only 14 and you need to be 18 to buy the issue. So how can they get it? The three friends come up with one failed plan after another to get their hands on the magazine, but finally decide to have Billy befriend a girl named Mary, whose father owns the store where it's being sold. It turns out that Billy and Mary both love computer programming and decide to enter a contest to submit Will's game "The Impossible Fortress" so they can win an IBM PS-2. They spend many weeks together, learning machine language to make the game the best it can be. It's also obvious that Billy and Mary have feelings for each other. Will the plan to steal the magazine get in the way? A humorous coming of age tale with lots of heart.