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A review by moochan
The Candy Shop War by Brandon Mull
3.0
The book was overall enjoyable and mostly well-written. It would’ve had 4 stars but the race stuff was persistent throughout the book and I couldn’t in good conscience NOT take a star off. The racial bits came off as uninformed and a bit prejudiced, and the book didn’t even need it.
The race stuff was a little odd, and not really necessary for the book. There were plenty of other ways to describe a costume or disguise without making it completely based around race. In the book the kids were given “Melting Pot Mixers” that would alter their appearance. There was a moment where Pigeon declared “I was hoping for Black!” As if that race were a costume to put on-and that was what race was treated as throughout the book. That’s a little similar to Blackface-putting on the assumed features of another race to one’s own advantage.
Additionally, the author only ever described the race of people who weren’t white-implying whiteness to be the norm or standard. And the descriptions were also based on stereotypes and prejudice. Summer, when she had taken her Mixer, was described as Asian, Japanese, and Chinese-which are not the same thing. It didn’t really matter as long as the reader saw what they-and likely the author-thought someone of these ethnicities would look like. This oversight was never corrected or clarified, which tells me the author didn’t really care to specify.
To clarify, the author is NOT RACIST, nor is the book, but the way it deals with race was insensitive and uninformed.
Also the author really laid into the fact that Pigeon was chubby. Like…he went into detail about how he could never keep up with his friends and was embarrassed by his weight…but that was it. He never lost the weight or gained self confidence about it. He just…kept on the exact way he’d been. So I really don’t know what the reason for mentioning the weight was. Other than shaming him? Or allowing the reader to understand that…fat people have a hard time?? I really don’t know, but it just rubbed me the wrong way.
The race stuff was a little odd, and not really necessary for the book. There were plenty of other ways to describe a costume or disguise without making it completely based around race. In the book the kids were given “Melting Pot Mixers” that would alter their appearance. There was a moment where Pigeon declared “I was hoping for Black!” As if that race were a costume to put on-and that was what race was treated as throughout the book. That’s a little similar to Blackface-putting on the assumed features of another race to one’s own advantage.
Additionally, the author only ever described the race of people who weren’t white-implying whiteness to be the norm or standard. And the descriptions were also based on stereotypes and prejudice. Summer, when she had taken her Mixer, was described as Asian, Japanese, and Chinese-which are not the same thing. It didn’t really matter as long as the reader saw what they-and likely the author-thought someone of these ethnicities would look like. This oversight was never corrected or clarified, which tells me the author didn’t really care to specify.
To clarify, the author is NOT RACIST, nor is the book, but the way it deals with race was insensitive and uninformed.
Also the author really laid into the fact that Pigeon was chubby. Like…he went into detail about how he could never keep up with his friends and was embarrassed by his weight…but that was it. He never lost the weight or gained self confidence about it. He just…kept on the exact way he’d been. So I really don’t know what the reason for mentioning the weight was. Other than shaming him? Or allowing the reader to understand that…fat people have a hard time?? I really don’t know, but it just rubbed me the wrong way.