Ted Staunton

Unbeknownst to me when I received Ted Staunton's "Coda", the book is actually part of a series of books which is a continuation of a series established back in 2012. I had received Eric Walters' "Between Heaven and Earth" which focused on the lead character's journey to Africa in order to fulfill his deceased grandfather's final wishes. Staunton's "Coda" is part of the second series which follows the same characters that were the focus in the first series; the protagonist of this book is the show more cousin of DJ, the protagonist of Walters' "Between Heaven and Earth", so there is a connection (albeit very limited) between the two.

I had personally not been a huge fan of Walters' book; I felt that it lacked any real depth or development and that the plot was oversimplified and unoriginal. Since reading Staunton's "Coda", however, I may have to reconsider my impressions of "Between Heaven and Earth" because compared to this drivel, Walters' book was a literary masterpiece.

There is very little I can say about “Coda” which could be considered positive. The plot is outlandish and unbelievable, the dialogue is unrealistic and contrived, and the characters are paper-thin and unrelatable. Perhaps the disconnection that I felt for the characters may have been due to the fact that the majority of the characters presented in “Coda” were introduced in Staunton’s first book “Jump Cut”. Yet even as a sequel to a novel that I have not read, the book was not able to capture my attention whatsoever. Staunton tries to base the plot of the book on a fictitious nation that is laughable in its description. There is not one character that is well-developed and the decisions and actions made by the protagonist, Spencer O’Toole, are ridiculous and unbelievable.

Any good book, regardless of its target audience, must have at least one area of literary strength; well-defined characters, an interesting plot, an intriguing structure, etc. “Coda” has none of these aspects going for it. There is nothing either memorable or interesting about the book and I would guess that, should any reader choose to start the Seven Sequels series with this book, they would likely not progress any further with it after reading this novel. I can’t see ever recommending this book to young readers and I sincerely hope that the other authors in the series put more effort into their works than Staunton did with “Coda”. Avoid this one.

1.5/5 show less

In CODA, Spencer spends his Christmas vacation looking for his brother Bunny, who has mysteriously disappeared while the two of them were skating. Their parents and extended families are out of town, so Spencer must save Bunny on his own — with the help of his girl-crush AmberLea, the suave Toby, the diminutive pop sensation Aiden Tween, and a cast of strange minor characters.

The author calls CODA "an affectionate spoof on classic espionage tales," which explains the far-fetched and show more somewhat campy plot of this novel. Adult readers may recognize the various films, books, characters, and songs the text references, but younger readers may be bewildered by the sometimes bizarrely meta-fictional elements of this story. Despite its realistic setting, this novel verges on screwball comedy; readers seeking problem-based fiction may be disappointed. The author often coyly glosses past matters that YA books normally linger over, such as sexuality and drug and alcohol use, and despite repeated threats and the presence of guns, the violence in the novel is cartoonish. The resolution is completely unbelievable, but by that point readers have either embraced or rejected the novel's larger logic, so the late revelations should simply act as a punchline to the running joke of the novel.

CODA is a fun and easy read, and readers who like absurd, over-the-top texts should enjoy this novel. CODA is a volume in the SEVEN SEQUELS series and is the companion novel to Richard Scrimger's THE WOLF AND ME, which readers may want to check out to learn the other side of Spencer and Bunny's story. show less

This short book, a good choice for "hi-lo" readers, is a prequel to the Seven Series (and therefore, to the Seven Sequels, also). In it, the main character, 7th grader Spencer, runs into trouble while camping in the woods with his younger brother "Bunny" (Bernard) and their grandfather David McLean. The grandfather is the same guy whose death and last will & testament sparks the action of the later series, but here he is alive and well and even flirting with Irene Steele, a friend from his show more mysterious past who features in the later books too. Here, Spence gets involved in helping a documentary film crew at a War of 1812 reenactment, learning how to run "speed"--use the clapboard to start a scene--and other movie tasks, while simultaneously snooping around a mystery involving one of the reenactors. I liked the stuff about reenacting--although I'd never before heard the term "farb" as it's used here, referring to reenactors who do things out of period--but the sideplot was kind of lame. And what bugged me the most was that Bunny was absent from the whole book! I can see that this is a setup for the next book, just like the authors did with the original Seven books, having each character get their own book and so sometimes the book's action takes place concurrently with one of the previous books. But it just seemed too glaringly obvious to me in this one, that Bunny was constantly offscreen and neither his brother nor his grandfather were worried about not having seen him. But then again, maybe that wouldn't bother a teen reading this book, unless they're really looking deeply into it. On the surface it's a fun little adventure with two interesting fields to learn more about (reenacting and film industry). show less

Harry and Clare are staying home this spring break, and to make things worse the weather is not helping. They don't seem to care, though. They do an expedition to Mars, and also a cars race. They play pirates, and school, and circus, and jungle. Everything would be perfect if Clare wasn't the only one making the rules, and, what it is worse, if she wouldn't manage to always eat both their snacks... Harry has a plan, and when he gets to hoard some supplies of "asteroid burgers" and "volcano show more sticks" in this pockets, things start to change.

The story made me laugh out loud. Harry and Clare are very funny, and it is impossible not to relate with their little conflicts. At the same time they manage to solve them in a friendly way. These siblings are so imaginative and creative, and the illustrations accompany so perfectly their games.
In the overall it was a great reading, amusing, enjoyable and sweet. Adorable characters, and lovely pics. It is also very appropriate, since we are just starting a freezing staycation here...

I received this copy in an Early Reviewers Giveaway in LibraryThing. show less