You Can’t Talk To My Friend, Cody: A book about machine learning and human connection

You Can’t Talk to My Friend Cody is a story about Truman, an awkwardly brilliant nine-year-old boy who gives up on making friends to build his own computer buddy using a secret language that only he and his computer understand. Cody is programmed to help with homework, tell jokes, and give words of encouragement. Cody is logical, accurate, and predictable. Truman finds security in cyberspace, but when he’s paired up with a relentless girl in science class, Truman begins to see that it’s more fulfilling to connect with real people in the physical world. Ultimately, Truman takes the leap to teach others to use his program, naturally forming friendships around a shared interest in technology. The author/illustrator of You Can’t Talk To My Friend, Cody is Rhapsody Hahn-Chaney, a K-12 technology teacher. Rhapsody Hahn-Chaney lives in New Jersey with her husband and two children. She wrote this story while enrolled in a Python coding class which she found to be extremely challenging. Hahn-Chaney edited and illustrated this picture book the following school year while simultaneously guiding high school students through the process of developing eBooks of their own. This book serves as an example of how to create and self-publish a high quality picture book that teaches a lesson. This book aims to teach children ages five to nine years old that people are more important than computers, and that coding is an amazing tool that should be shared with kids all around the world!