Middle-grade sci-fi adventure · Ages 8-12
Friendship · Humor
Twelve-year-old math whiz Cody Parker feels out of his depth at Adventure Camp. Then a search for a fallen meteorite leads to two young aliens who need his help - and a problem no camper could have prepared for.
An adventure about unexpected friendships, big mistakes, and finding the courage to try again.
"No matter how smart or talented you are, you are going to make mistakes. It is how you respond to those mistakes that will define you."
—Ronald Coleman, on the message behind Cody Parker and the Meteorite
Twelve-year-old math whiz Cody loves puzzles - but Adventure Camp doesn't come with an answer key. His biggest discovery may be that solving problems takes more than smarts: it takes friends.
Cody Parker
Twelve-year-old math whiz Cody loves puzzles—but Adventure Camp doesn't come with an answer key. His biggest discovery may be that solving problems takes more than smarts: it takes friends.
Friend or foe? Towering giants or smaller than your backpack? Cody wasn't expecting company from another world - and these mysterious visitors aren't giving up their secrets here. Who are they, and what will their arrival mean for Adventure Camp?
The...aliens?
Friend of foe? Towering giants or smaller than your backpack? Cody wasn't expecting company from another world—and these mysterious visitors aren't giving up their secrets here. Who are they, and what will their arrival mean for Adventure Camp?
Tim like order, a plan, and being in charge. Sharing his friend Alan with Cody wasn't on the agenda - but this adventure may teach him that leadership means making room for others.
Tim
Tim likes order, a plan, and being in charge. Sharing his friend Alan with Cody wasn't on the agenda—but this adventure may teach him that leadership means making room for others.
Athletic, outgoing Alan turns "What ifs?" into "Let's go!" He brings enthusiasm where Cody brings caution - and, as a big brother, a different perspective on their alien visitors.
Alan
Athletic, outgoing Alan turns "What if?" into "Let's go!" He brings enthusiasm where Cody brings caution—and, as a big brother, a different perspective on their alien visitors.
Goofy, playful Billie brings card tricks and mischief to a group with serious problems. Her cousin Tim likes order; she prefers keeping everyone guessing.
Billie
Goofy, playful Billie brings card tricks and mischief to a group with serious problems. Her cousin Tim likes order; she prefers keeping everyone guessing.
Before Cody started asking questions, Ron did.
A globe. A flashlight. A very big question: how can it be daytime here and nighttime somewhere else? One of Ronald Coleman's earliest memories is his dad showing him how that works - and feeding a curiosity that never really switched off.
That curiosity has taken him from answering 911 calls as an EMT to working on Hollywood movie sets and studying stem cells—including research to help conserve the critically endangered northern white rhino. Today, Ronald Coleman, PhD, is a scientist who bring his love of asking questions to a different kind of adventure: writing science fiction for kids.
And now... at Adventure Camp.
Cody shares something with his creator: a love of math and puzzles, and the experience of not always fitting in. But Ronald didn't give him a summer full of easy answers. He gave him unfamiliar challenges, unexpected friends, and a reason to discover what happens when curiosity gets a little louder than fear.
You don't need to be a math whiz to join the adventure. Just bring your curiosity.
His advice for a future scientist?
"Be curious. Explore everything. Math is often helpful." —Ronald Coleman
Keep turning pages.
Action from the start, short chapters, and suspenseful chapter endings invite readers to find out what happens next. For a child who enjoys a story with momentum, Cody's adventure offers a place to begin.
Give curiosity somewhere to go.
Math and science help move the adventure forward. Readers encounter ideas involving meteors, magnetism, the periodic table, and the physics of watercraft—with a science appendix for those who want to explore further.
Talk about more than the science.
Cody is comfortable with puzzles. New situations—and not getting everything right—are harder. His experiences offer starting points for talking about friendship, different strengths, asking for help, and trying again when a plan doesn't work.
Read it your way.
Enjoy the adventure as independent reading, share it as a family read-aloud, or use selected moments to start a classroom or homeschool conversation. You don't have to turn every chapter into a lesson. Sometimes one good question is enough.
Keep the curiosity going.
Sign up for
Windy Sea Publishing's
newsletter to receive the free
Cody Parker Activity Pack and
updates on new releases.
