Cody and the Heart of a Champion

February 1, 2018

Gr 2-4-Ready for bare feet, her favorite spring jacket, and the return of her ant colony, Cody eagerly anticipates spring in this fourth book in the series. "Outside Cody's classroom window the world was changing before her very eyes. Icicles were melting. Grass was greening. The trees had a happy, fizzy look." Unfortunately, the transition from winter to spring never goes smoothly; Cody must contend with one more snow day, a bad cold (which she spreads to a number of classmates), a missing-in-action ant colony, and a now-too-small favorite spring jacket. Cody's world is changing on the inside too, and those transitions are equally challenging. Her friend Pearl has become infatuated with a new friend, bossy soccer star Madison, and Pearl decides she and Cody need to try out for the team. Pearl diligently follows Madison's orders (what to wear, where to sit, how to play) and urges Cody to as well, but Cody resists, risking her friendship with Pearl. She also learns her best friend Spencer and his family are moving, and is angry that he did not tell her himself. As in other "Cody" books, the protagonist's main conflict, navigating change, replicates itself all around her-from the tumultuous change of the season to changing friendships and families to her brother's new girlfriend pushing him to make his own changes. The question that Cody and others manage to resolve for themselves in the end lies around when to embrace change, when to accept it, and when to stay true to who you are. VERDICT Full of soccer games and social dynamics, the latest in this warm and satisfying chapter book series gently explores some of the truths of growing up through a strong leading female character who has incredibly supportive family and friends around her.-Julie Roach, Cambridge Public Library, MA

Copyright 2018 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

February 15, 2018
Spring is in the air--a change the energetic bug-fancier Cody's so, so ready for that other, unheralded changes in her life take her by surprise.Accepting that she's outgrown her red spring jacket feels like abandoning a faithful friend. While Cody's been trying to coax her ant colony into the sunshine, her friend Pearl has had two sleepovers with Madison, who's persuaded Pearl to sign up for a combined boys-and-girls soccer league. Pearl wants Cody to sign up, too. Though Cody's cautious friend and neighbor, Spencer, warns her soccer means getting bonked on the head and bossy Madison is not Cody's favorite person, she signs up. Once coach Yazmin determines she's left-footed, Cody proves adept at dribbling, unlike Pearl. Still, Madison is the team's unquestioned star player, and Pearl's her acolyte. Spencer's family is changing, too; will there be room in his crowded house for a new baby? Why is he creating a museum under his front porch? Navigating tricky friendship ups and downs is a challenge, but Cody's older brother, Wyatt, remains her stalwart supporter, and her long-distance-trucker dad offers timely, sage advice. Accepting the inevitable and powering through are the enjoyable lessons tucked into the fourth installment of this sturdy series set among a diverse collection of friends and neighbors. (Cody and Madison appear to be white, while Pearl is Asian, Spencer is black, and the affectionately nicknamed Coach Y! has dark skin.) If change must happen, Cody's good company. (Fiction. 7-10)

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July 1, 2018
In Cody's fourth book, she learns that not everything can be counted on to remain as it was and that unexpected new things may be unpleasant--e.g., best friends move away or get caught up with other classmates. This thoughtful and sometimes very funny chapter book takes the everyday crises of childhood seriously but without over-the-top drama, and the third-person-limited narration allows room for readers' own musings on life's transformations.

(Copyright 2018 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

May 1, 2018
In her fourth outing Cody (Cody and the Fountain of Happiness, rev. 3/15, and sequels) looks forward to spring. She writes, with her idiosyncratic spelling, in her journal: It is my best season. In spring things that went away come back. For exampull ants. And flowers. Brand new things come. For exampull baby birds. And baby people. But, as Cody gradually learns, even though things may come back, not everything can be counted on to remain just as it was?such as your favorite last-year's spring jacket now being too tight across the shoulders and forcing you to walk with your arms out like a chicken. And those unexpected new things that come may also be unpleasant?such as your best friend moving away and your other best friend getting caught up in soccer frenzy with a fierce and newly influential classmate. (Cody's age is not specified, but third grade seems about right.) Springstubb brings welcome depth to Cody's family and her multiracial group of friends. Here change comes, as it must, but what remains is basic respect for one another. This thoughtful and sometimes very funny chapter book takes the everyday crises of childhood seriously but without over-the-top drama, and the third-person limited narration allows room for readers' own musings on the transformations that spring, and life, can bring. betty carter

(Copyright 2018 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)