This trilogy of short stories introduces us to Cody Hamilton.
The opening story, `Cody's Colts', features Cody, cool and sporty, and Dwaine, dweeb with two left feet. Together, with their friend, the unflappable Leah, they play for their local under 12 football team and have made it to the final of the cup competition against the reigning champions. Cody is desperate to win, and have his picture in the paper for scoring the most hattricks in one season, but he knows the chances are slim with Dwaine in the team. Cody goes on a journey of discovery whereby he learns that team work and friendship is more important that selfishness and winning.
Cody lives with his long-suffering father (who is also the coach of the football team) and, of course, Harry the cat. Harry is a loyal companion and she (yes, `she', not a typo) is treated like one of the family. Cody and his dad communicate with Harry as though she can understand every word they say. Story two, `Cody and Harry', tells of the hilarious confusions that are had with her namesake and their neighbour, also called Harry.
Finally, in `Cody Gets Framed', Cody and his friends spend the summer holidays solving the crime of the stolen Roman treasure. Inexplicably, the evidence points towards Cody and he is suspect number one with the police. Cody, Dwaine and Leah have just 6 weeks to clear his name. Nothing goes to plan though, and life just keeps getting worse. Will they discover the real culprit in time and why has Cody been framed for the theft?
Inspiration:
As with many authors my decision to put pen to paper arose from making up bedtime stories for my own child. Struggling with his reading and writing, I took to composing stories to read with him that incorporated his key stage words. These stories grew and grew, ultimately becoming the three stories that comprise An Introduction to Cody Hamilton.
