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4.2 AVERAGE
4.2 AVERAGE
As posted on Outside of a Dog
Four children. Four contestants. Four chances to change the candy world. This is what is offered to Miles, Daisy, Phillip and Logan when they are chosen to take part in the Confectionary Association's annual new candy contest. A little bit of Willy Wonka and a little bit of The Mysterious Benedict Society, Wendy Mass' The Candymakers brings lightness and heart to the story of four very different kids and the chance of a lifetime.
A lot of this lightness comes in the form of Mass' characters, starting with Logan Sweet, the Candymaker's son. He's lived for his twelve short years at the Life is Sweet candy factory, where his father, like his grandfather before him, makes such delicious confections as the Gummysaurus Rex, Icy Mint Blobs and Neon Yellow Lightning Chews. Logan is full of sweetness and humor, and a natural charm that makes him a friend to all those around him. He also has a way with candy. He can charm the bees in the beehive, knows individual ingredients by taste and can even determine the color and type of chocolate by touch. His dream is to win the new candy contest with a revolutionary product called the Bubbletastic ChocoRocket, the "first candy in history to turn from chocolate to gum...and back again." Joining Logan at Life is Sweet are Miles O'Leary, who talks knowledgably of the afterlife and is allergic to pancakes and the color pink, Daisy Carpenter, who wears mismatched socks and rides a horse to the factory and Phillip Ransford III, who comes dressed for business and never eats candy. It rots your teeth.
In The Candymakers each of the four is given a segment, and the first two days are seen through each of their eyes. This allows for a distinctive experience, and a delayed release of information that proves very effective in proving the old adage true. Things really are rarely what they seem. I found a one revelation about Logan when seen through the eyes of another to be particularly moving, and felt just the faintest touch of the author's presence that made me think back on Logan's segment with an altered mindset. There is also a bit of a genre blending that threw me for a loop at first. I wasn’t sure if I liked the change, the intrusion into my sweet story of something fantastic and a little hard. But the change grew on me, just as the character’s truth and innate worthiness grew on me.
I don’t quite know what to make of Wendy Mass. Of her books that I have read, not one is like the other. She’s a bit of a wild card to me, and I never know what to expect, except for beautifully drawn characters thrown into some kind of unexpected venture. The Candymakers is no different. Four complicated, unique children running wild in a candy store is a great start to an adventure, and Mass expertly navigates everyone through mysteries, mistaken identities, corporate conspiracies and lots and lots of candy.
Four children. Four contestants. Four chances to change the candy world. This is what is offered to Miles, Daisy, Phillip and Logan when they are chosen to take part in the Confectionary Association's annual new candy contest. A little bit of Willy Wonka and a little bit of The Mysterious Benedict Society, Wendy Mass' The Candymakers brings lightness and heart to the story of four very different kids and the chance of a lifetime.
A lot of this lightness comes in the form of Mass' characters, starting with Logan Sweet, the Candymaker's son. He's lived for his twelve short years at the Life is Sweet candy factory, where his father, like his grandfather before him, makes such delicious confections as the Gummysaurus Rex, Icy Mint Blobs and Neon Yellow Lightning Chews. Logan is full of sweetness and humor, and a natural charm that makes him a friend to all those around him. He also has a way with candy. He can charm the bees in the beehive, knows individual ingredients by taste and can even determine the color and type of chocolate by touch. His dream is to win the new candy contest with a revolutionary product called the Bubbletastic ChocoRocket, the "first candy in history to turn from chocolate to gum...and back again." Joining Logan at Life is Sweet are Miles O'Leary, who talks knowledgably of the afterlife and is allergic to pancakes and the color pink, Daisy Carpenter, who wears mismatched socks and rides a horse to the factory and Phillip Ransford III, who comes dressed for business and never eats candy. It rots your teeth.
In The Candymakers each of the four is given a segment, and the first two days are seen through each of their eyes. This allows for a distinctive experience, and a delayed release of information that proves very effective in proving the old adage true. Things really are rarely what they seem. I found a one revelation about Logan when seen through the eyes of another to be particularly moving, and felt just the faintest touch of the author's presence that made me think back on Logan's segment with an altered mindset. There is also a bit of a genre blending that threw me for a loop at first. I wasn’t sure if I liked the change, the intrusion into my sweet story of something fantastic and a little hard. But the change grew on me, just as the character’s truth and innate worthiness grew on me.
I don’t quite know what to make of Wendy Mass. Of her books that I have read, not one is like the other. She’s a bit of a wild card to me, and I never know what to expect, except for beautifully drawn characters thrown into some kind of unexpected venture. The Candymakers is no different. Four complicated, unique children running wild in a candy store is a great start to an adventure, and Mass expertly navigates everyone through mysteries, mistaken identities, corporate conspiracies and lots and lots of candy.
Wow! This book was kind of a surprise for me. The first 30% or so is told from the perspective of Logan, the Candymaker's son. Because it's the reader's first introduction to the majority of the action in the book, most of the stuff that happens seems pretty straightforward, almost like the "control" version of the story, and while it's kind of interesting to tour the candy factory and see how the kids interact with each other, this first section doesn't really give you an idea of why this book is so great. If it seems a little slow, stick with it.
It's when the perspective shifts that things get really interesting. First we see things from Miles's point of view, then Daisy's, and finally Philip's before returning to Logan's once again. Almost immediately in each section, we're given extra context that gives a whole new perspective to what's really going on, and it continues that way throughout. It's hard to describe in a review like this without being spoilery, but there are some very cool twists — one about 70% in that actually gave me a chill, it was so unexpected, and that almost never happens to me even with "adult" books.
The plotline about the candy competition is cute, but it's almost just a handy vehicle for what the story is really about (to me, at least), which is the idea that perception is everything. When people behave a certain way, it's probably for a reason. Everything we perceive, and how we react to it, is filtered through our own experience up to that point. The book kind of teaches how important it is to consider other people's experiences and how sharing them can teach us compassion. Of course, it's not as in-your-face a moral lesson as that — that's simply the message that comes across through the story itself. Definitely a lesson that would benefit people of all ages, not just the kids this book is targeted to.
It's when the perspective shifts that things get really interesting. First we see things from Miles's point of view, then Daisy's, and finally Philip's before returning to Logan's once again. Almost immediately in each section, we're given extra context that gives a whole new perspective to what's really going on, and it continues that way throughout. It's hard to describe in a review like this without being spoilery, but there are some very cool twists — one about 70% in that actually gave me a chill, it was so unexpected, and that almost never happens to me even with "adult" books.
The plotline about the candy competition is cute, but it's almost just a handy vehicle for what the story is really about (to me, at least), which is the idea that perception is everything. When people behave a certain way, it's probably for a reason. Everything we perceive, and how we react to it, is filtered through our own experience up to that point. The book kind of teaches how important it is to consider other people's experiences and how sharing them can teach us compassion. Of course, it's not as in-your-face a moral lesson as that — that's simply the message that comes across through the story itself. Definitely a lesson that would benefit people of all ages, not just the kids this book is targeted to.
loved this book even though it is targeted to pre-adolescents. At first it reminded me of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, but it has more realistic characters and a touch of a mystery. Love that the author alternated telling the story from each characters point of view. Was fun to see what another character was doing and thinking after you'd already heard someone else's point of view.
girls will literally reread a childhood favorite book instead of going to therapy
I really liked this book. I enjoy books that show more than one perspective, which this does in addition to the whole contest aspect which I also have a fondness for. There was enough mystery surrounding the story to keep me reading and wanting to know what would happen next. I didn't care for the one chapter that attempted to patch up the lies and deceit going on. I feel like everyone was much too inclined to be willing to listen and forgive than would happen in real life. Granted we know that without this the story cannot proceed and I am willing to let it go because I enjoyed the story enough to want to read another with the same characters.
Wendy Mass is a terrific writer! I loved the layout of this book with the different points of view and the mystery kept building throughout the book. Great development of characters and sweet moral...
Wow...
Senang dengan isi buku, senang dengan isi pabrik permen, senang dengan latar para tokoh cerita, senang dengan akhir cerita... Senang bahwa tokoh antagonis tidak berhasil menang ;)
Dan terutama senang dengan cara pengarang mengalirkan cerita dan menghadirkan kejutan yg pas setiap kalinya.
Senang dengan isi buku, senang dengan isi pabrik permen, senang dengan latar para tokoh cerita, senang dengan akhir cerita... Senang bahwa tokoh antagonis tidak berhasil menang ;)
Dan terutama senang dengan cara pengarang mengalirkan cerita dan menghadirkan kejutan yg pas setiap kalinya.
A few of my students read this and enjoyed it, so I figured I'd give it a try. It was adorable, yet not predictable. The characters were believable, and how they grew over the course of the novel was wonderful. I think it's a wonderful life lesson for children, to give one another a chance.