Speed

Spencer #0.5

by Ted Staunton

How can you liven up a boring camping trip with your grandpa and your younger brother? Spencer has the answer: lose the new cell phone you weren't supposed to bring with you. Add a War of 1812 reenactment, a student film crew, an old flame of Grandpa's, Laura Secord's cowbell and a larcenous hardcore history buff, and you get a weekend that gives Spencer his first taste of independence and maybe a glimpse of his future, by way of the past.
In this funny prequel to Jump Cut and Coda, the goofy and creative Spencer gets caught up in a War of 1812 reenactment.

168 pages, Paperback

First published September 19, 2016

Reviews

[Francis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Book three of The Seven Prequel series.

In this book, grandfather David McLean takes two of his grandsons, Spencer and Bunny, on a camping trip where there was a War of 1812 reenactment. The story focuses on Spencer, as Bunny’s adventure is written in the next book. Spencer loves film production, and is drawn to the people recording the reenactment.

A few parts of the book were a bit confusing, as the writing was not always super clear. However, it was still enjoyable, and I did learn a few things about the War of 1812 to boot.

[Christina Getrost · Rating 3 out of 5]

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 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).

[Wanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received an ARC copy of Ted Staunton's "Speed" compliments of LibraryThing's Early Reviewer program and appreciated the opportunity.

This story shares the tale of Spencer O'Toole who is camping with his Grandfather and younger brother, Bernard. Preferring to be elsewhere, he is not exactly thrilled at the idea. Soon after arriving at the campsite, Spencer's luck begins to run out fast, he loses his brand new cell phone. While on the hunt, he finds himself in the heart of a War of 1812 reenactment that is being filmed by university students. Making the best of a lousy situation, Spencer starts to learn more about history and gains a behind the scenes look at what it takes to be on a film crew. There is more bad luck and suspense thrown his way as he attempts to be more independent, to prove to his Grandfather that he can survive the weekend.

The story is geared for an audience age 9+. It is a prequel to "Jump Cut", which is in the series "Seven" aw well as to "Coda" which is in the series "The Seven Sequels". Having not read these others, is is definitely a stand alone story.

I enjoyed the book's humour and could kindly relate to the young man's woes. It shares bits and pieces of history, was educational in fashion. It was age-appropriate for the target audience. I appreciated the Canadian flair to the story. I recommend this book with a 4/5 star rating.

[Ariel · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Stars

"The only thing more boring than camping is TV golf"
From that line alone I knew Spencer and I would get along great.

One of the things I really enjoyed about this book was the quirky cast of characters we meet at the battle re-enactment. They are one of the greatest parts of this book!

Another thing I really enjoyed was Spencer's inner monologue. I felt like I got to know him very quickly and his voice made him a fun character to hear his perspective on what was going on around him.

This book also taught me a new word, "farb" Farb basically means phony with a little more style don't you think? I LOVE it, and will be using it in my everyday vocabulary.

The one thing I wasn't too keen on was that Spencer called his parents by their first names. But, since they weren't really in the book it was ok.

All in all, I really enjoyed this book and I would recommend it to: anyone who likes history, anyone who enjoys camping, anyone who hates camping (like me), or anyone who's parents made them wear cargo shorts when they didn't want to!

Happy reading!