Secret Coders

Eni has been attending Stately Academy since he was in kindergarten. He always felt there was something strange about the school but couldn’t figure out what it was until he and Hopper discovered that the birds’ eyes were displaying binary code. Eni and his three older sisters are good at basketball, but Eni also knows a little about coding because his father is a computer scientist. He doesn’t hit it off with Hopper at first, but eventually, they both become curious about the odd birds and numbers around the school. He teaches Hopper how to read binary code, and together they begin to solve mysteries about their school. When they agree to meet after basketball practice to try to break into Mr. Bee’s shed, Hopper realizes that Eni has officially become her friend. 

Eni is curious, perceptive, and learns quickly, such as when he figures out the birds’ binary code eyes and the turtle’s programming abilities. He is also a loyal friend. Once he and Hopper begin spending time together, he doesn’t let Josh’s teasing interfere with their friendship. He also comes to the principal’s office when Hopper gets in trouble to provide moral support. He accepts the punishment that Principal Dean gives them. Eni embodies the theme of computer coding as a fun and accessible discipline.

Josh is Eni’s friend and is not very nice to Hopper, even after Eni starts hanging out with her. He laughs when Eni accidentally flings pudding in Hopper’s face and teases them for spending so much time together. He is not portrayed as intelligent as Hopper and Eni, but rather a bully. He is curious and nosy when he sees Eni and Hopper investigating the custodian’s shed and other odd things around the school. He tags along with them when they investigate a secret portal that the robot turtle opens, but he is not as knowledgeable about coding as the other two. 

Near the end of the novel, he begins to be more insecure about his friendship with Eni and jealous that he has been spending so much time with Hopper, which makes him seem like less of a bully and positions him as part of a trio in the following installments. He insists on hanging out with them and accidentally finds himself involved in Mr. Bee’s programming challenge at the end of the novel just because he insisted on coming with Hopper and Eni down the Portal Path they have discovered.

Mr. Bee is the custodian at Stately Academy. He is often grouchy and sometimes acts strangely. Hopper thinks that he is creepy and that he is hiding secrets about the school. This suspicion is confirmed when she learns that he does not want the kids to go near the custodian’s shed. He has programmed a robotic turtle to clean the sidewalks and can command the four-eyed birds to attack when shown the number 15. He seems to be at the heart of the many secrets of Stately Academy. When Hopper and Eni are assigned to help him pick up trash as their punishment for programming Little Guy to turn on his leaf blower and blow a sandwich into Ms. Hu’s face, Mr. Bee gives them a challenge. At first, he threatens to have them expelled, but he changes his mind when he realizes that Hopper’s father is Albert Gracie. He then says that if they can figure out the program for a complicated portal, he will show them more about the secrets of Stately Academy, but if they can’t figure it out, they have to leave the school and never come back.

Mr. Bee represents the accessibility of coding, as he might not be the obvious suspect behind the robotic birds, as he shows no outward signs of coding experience. His presence in the novel subtly challenges the idea that an ability to code represents any particular demographic, presenting computer coding as a fun and accessible discipline.

Little Guy is the robotic turtle that Eni and Hopper find in the custodian’s shed. He is not a living person who can make his own choices, but he is an important figure in Hopper and Eni’s adventure as they learn how to code because he carries out the programs that they learn to write. They also find a program that Mr. Bee has written to have him clean the sidewalk with his leaf blower. Eni steals Little Guy and brings him home to practice programming. He also learns that Little Guy can also perform commands when given verbally. Hopper commands Little Guy to walk over to Josh and turn on his leaf blower. Later, they command it to walk the perimeter of a secret portal that Mr. Bee has created. Little Guy is the physical avatar that performs the output of the codes and commands that Mr. Bee, Eni, and Hopper give it (the input), which would normally be a cursor on a computer screen. He is a turtle because the programming language Logo calls its code-performers “turtles.”