The Candy Shop War

I was very disappointed with this book. I was reading it out loud to my 9 and 10 year old kids and I had to keep saying "this is only fiction", please don't work for a stranger and accept candy with magical powers as payment. And please don't bring home fudge that will sedate me. When we got to the part where the candy shop owner wanted them to steal in exchange for more magical candy my 10 year old suggested we stop reading the book. My copy of the book is now in my recycle bin.

I had numerous issues with this book. Most of them I could console myself I could talk over with my child before she read it, but one thing I cannot abide and that is the violent actions in the prologue and later in the book, after chapter ten, when a middle school student is kidnapped, dumped in a trunk, then driven to a motel where they are locked in the bathroom in a straight jacket with duct tape over their mouth. And this by a supposedly "good" character whom the "good" children are siding with. The prologue reminded me of nothing so much as the bounty hunter in "No Country for Old Men," as a shadowy enforcer-type sneaks up on someone who has supposedly done some undefined bad thing and attacks him with tear gas and neurotoxins. The children themselves administer electric shocks to others including other children. The children use the magical candy not to enjoy themselves or the candy, but to commit crimes and attack or defend from adversaries.

I can discuss with my child the other negative issues raised by this book- racial profiling, the pushing of mind-numbing candy/drugs on family members, committing of crimes in return for rewards- and she may come out the better for it...possibly. But any positive effects of the book (albeit achieved by highlighting the negative aspects) are outweighed by the violent themes and images. It is simply not worth it. This is not the fun magical journey it appears to be.

This book is a lot of fun, it's exciting, it's not overly scary, and the ending is set up very nicely well in advance (although I must say I didn't see it coming). It's well-written, and if the ethical dilemmas the kids find themselves in aren't very novel, well, at least they make a clear moral message. (Remember, kids, robbing graves is wrong!)

So why only three stars? Well, because even though the writing would normally cause me to give this book four stars, I yanked a star off for the race issues.

Yes, it's gonna be one of those reviews. Deal with it.

There are a lot of, uh, issues in this book, and they're all woven in a messy little package of ick that really mars this otherwise great book.

Let's start with the demographics of the main characters. We've got four kids (and their families, but for the sake of convenience I'll count each family as one unit), three bullies, two magicians, and a mysterious guy whose job I can't divulge for spoiler reasons. And a teacher, and a janitor.

All these people are white and non-Hispanic, in a state where non-Hispanic whites actually make up less than 50% of the population. That's just unrealistic. I should be suspending my disbelief to deal with magic, not messed-up racial demographics.

And I *know* these people are right because of the OTHER big problem in this book: How non-whites are described.

Hoo-boy. The white people are described with a variety of adjectives - "honey-blond hair", "portly", "bleary-eyed in a stained corduroy jacket", "short, pudgy with thick black hair", "blond with curly hair", and on one memorable instant "plump, balding, with a goatee". (The last is not an exact quote.)

The non-whites (all minor characters, I can't think of any that persist for more than a page or two) are described... with their race. They're black, Asian, "Asian with sliver eyes" (wtf?), or Indian. Compare "a black female police officer" with "the police officer, a muscular man with short hair and chiseled cheekbones" and something starts to seem... wrong. It's like the author thinks that simply giving somebody's race is sufficient to describe them. Unless they're white, of course, because the hidden message here (although I'm sure it was unintentional) is that white people a. are normal and b. all look different from each other. The few times another adjective is used, it's something that's stereotypically of that race - a woman is Vietnamese, "small and slight". A crying kid is Asian and also "tiny".

Likewise, when the children change appearance, the book makes a point of mentioning that what changes (and the ONLY thing that changes) is their race. They look like them, but Asian or black or Hawaiian or "full-blooded Native American". The comments they make ("I kinda was hoping for black" or "Now would be a great time for a victory hula") smack of exoticism, and why? Because white people are normal.

I know, I know, he didn't mean anything by it! I'm sure he didn't. I'm sure the author is not really a bigot, and is probably quite a nice person who believes in equal rights for everybody, etc. etc. etc. This does not mean that the underlying message in these lopsided descriptions isn't there.

There's also the thing with the candystore wooden Indian, an "ancient chief" with feathers and buckskin and a tomahawk, who looks "weary but courageous". He also - SPOILER ALERT! - comes alive midway through the book and violently steals an important object. I'm actually gonna give this one a pass on the (admittedly dubious) grounds that the owner of the wooden Indian presumably got/carved it way way way back in the day when this sort of casual racism was widely considered to be okay, and anyway, by that point in the book we know she's evil.

I took away one star, and I suggest that you read this book before you buy it, especially if you plan to use it in a classroom. It's not really the lack of non-white characters (if that's your criteria, the unfortunate reality is you'll find yourself with very few books indeed that you can read with your kids, and most of the ones you have will be depressingly "uplifting" instead of fun), but more, as I said, how they're described. The cumulative effect of all this left me feeling exhausted, and I'm not sure I want to read this with my young nieces.

After reading the entire Fablehaven series outloud to my kids we were all excited to start The Candy Shop War. Unfortunately we only made it through the first 7 chapters before we decided it was not for us. I cannot complain about the writing, it's great. What I simply could not overlook was the fact that all the main characters were morally corrupt. In the Fablehaven series the kids (although some poor choices were made) were basically good kids, trying to do the right thing, as were many of the main characters. There was a clear distinction between good and evil. Where is the good in The Candy Shop War? The old lady running the candy shop is manipulative and using the kids. The kids are willing to lie and mislead their own parents, break in and enter a museum to steal artifacts, and even amongst the supposed best friends quartet, one kid was made fun of by the others. It was impossibly to feel a connection for these kids, or cheer them on for that matter. There are plenty of books available with kids who have admirable qualities. The two stars are given for the technical quality of the writing which is really good. Too bad this story was so flat and uninspiring.

The "Don't take candy from Strangers," message is lost in the long glamorization of drug use formed in the beginning of the book. As always, be careful what you read to kids! Make sure to have a sit down after any reading of this book and tell kids of all ages drugs are dangerous. Then go over all the many mistakes the kids in this book make. This main characters are not good role models... but the writing quality is good so it got one star. Not appropriate for under 12.

This book was too upsetting for my 7 year old. She is an advanced reader and was reading this alone. The recommendation s 8 and up, but the content should move that age up, in my opinion. I don't normally review things online, but just wanted to be sure other parents of young independent readers are aware of the scary/slightly mature content.

I see that I'm in the minority here, but I wanted to be completely honest. I'm a HUGE fan of Brandon Mull's writing. I've read the Fablehaven series through several times....I've finished the Beyonders series, and I decided to order The Candy Shop War. Right off the bat, I had trouble turning the pages. I made it over 3/4 of the way through the book before I decided to give up. I rarely give up. Didn't want to give up. I even went and switched gears completely, reading Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier!! I came back to this book, and STILL couldn't get into it. I'm not sure if it's the lack of lots of adventure, if it's the lack of any interesting and colorful adult characters....I don't know. I'm thinking maybe the latter. Fablehaven and the Beyonders always had an adult character I could identify with...that's about as close as I can come to putting my finger on it. I'm looking forward to his new books coming out (The Sky Raiders series and The Spirit Animals). Maybe in a few years, I'll get this book out and try it again.

Arrived quickly and service was excellent. I love dealing with Amazon.com. I read the book and not sure what I think about it. Very different than what I expected.

Yes, I'm sorry I'm going to compare it to fablehaven. Why? Because he wrote them both and if you read one you will most likely read the other. I read Candy shoppe wars because I adored fablehaven. Fablehaven it is not. It's cute but geared towards a bit younger audience so as an adult I found it more difficult to place myself in the mindset of a bunch of 10 year olds. Would I read this to my child when she gets a bit older? Absolutely. It's a fun story if not a little choppy in places. I read something that said pieces were removed and rewritten and reshaped several times. It shows but just barely. I didn't get lost in this world but I can see how a 10 year old could. The adult appeal is limited but not absent. Hello!!! Who doesn't love Willy Wonka? While this is not as whimsical and silly as Willy it has it's charm and place. I won't tell you I couldn't dare to put it down because it was quite easy, but I never left it for long.

Not quite up to par with the Fablehaven series but a prety darn good read. Can't believe I'm enjoying my grand-kids books at 63 but at least it gives us something to talk about when we get together. Thank God some of us never completely grow up!