The Candymakers

The Candymakers
by Wendy Mass
Recommended Ages: 12+

Logan, Miles, Daisy and Philip are four of 32 contestants in the Confectionary Association's annual New Candy Contest. This year, the 12-year-olds get to work on their entries in the contest – of which the winning candy will actually go into commercial production – at the Life Is Sweet candy factory, where Logan has lived all his life. But before Logan's three guests can move from being competitors toward real friendship, they'll all have to deal with issues that, in more than one case, actually threaten the existence of Life Is Sweet. Secretly, one of them is a spy working for a rival candymaker; one of them bears a grudge, and is out for revenge; and one of them is just struggling to cope with reality. Logan himself carries scars that are visible to everyone but himself.

Every day, Logan's mother passes him a note with an inspirational quote on it. On Day 2 of the group's three-day candymaking experience, the note says, "Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a battle you know nothing about." This could actually serve as a theme for the entire book, in which the same two days play back four times so that we can re-experience them from each of the hero kids' point of view. Every exchange takes on a new meaning when you find out what they're coping with at the time. This part of the story is fascinating and often surprising, but the real fun doesn't begin until all the kids get on the same page and start making things happen together – when they get around the obstacles in their way and begin to act like friends.

It's a delicious book, and not just because of the awesome candy factory it depicts. It's a tale that cries out to be added to my running list of healing books. I took pleasure in getting to know each of these main characters better, and seeing them get to know themselves and each other. Their talents are impressive. Their quirks are entertaining. At bottom, they are simply lovable. The complex weave of action and motive, the clever dialogue and even cleverer plot design, are evidence of a master storyteller at work.

The sequel to this book is titled The Candymakers and the Great Chocolate Chase. Wendy Mass is also the author of four Twice Upon a Time books, five Willow Falls books, six Space Taxi books with co-author Michael Brawer, four Time Jumpers books, several other novels for young readers with such titles as A Mango-shaped Space, Heaven Looks a Lot Like the Mall and Pi in the Sky, and several nonfiction books that seem to be of the educational persuasion.

The Hero Revealed

The Hero Revealed
by William Boniface
Recommended Ages: 10+

In Superopolis, everyone has a superpower – except Ordinary Boy, known as O Boy or OB to his friends. Some of them use their powers to fight crime, others to commit it. Mostly, they just try to make a living – like the Levitator effortlessly delivering heavy packages, or the Big Bouncer using his human gym ball skills to stock shelves at Mighty Mart. OB’s mom, whose gaze can be chilling when she wants it to be, has a well-paid job at a refrigeration firm called Corpsicle. His dad can cook food with his bare hands. His teacher, Ms. Marble, can turn a rowdy class into stone – for a minute or two. Even the other kids in OB’s class have strange powers.

The trouble is, when everyone is special, nobody is – which is perhaps why Thermo (O Boy’s dad) has so much trouble getting into the League of Ultimate Goodness. He just wants to fight crime, but the Amazing Indestructo (who flies around with the aid of a jet pack) isn’t interested in the help of anybody talented enough to upstage him in the media circus he keeps focused on himself. Besides, he’s pretty busy cashing in on his fame. So, funnily enough, Ordinary Boy’s ordinariness allows him to become the kid everybody depends on. Especially because he has brains, uses common sense and (by necessity) knows how to get things done the hard way, which is sometimes the only way.

In his debut adventure, O Boy joins a group of school kids including Stench (who is super strong in more ways than one), Plasma Girl (who can transform into ooze), Tadpole (who can stick his tongue out, like, 20 feet) and Halogen Boy (who, ironically, isn’t all that bright) to complete their collection of a set of superhero and -villain trading cards. Along the way, they learn lessons about supply and demand and, as a free bonus, discover a plot to destroy Superopolis. In a story that broadly lampoons our generation’s overall obliviousness to the mind tricks the commercial media play on us, they face villains who do not go gently into that good night and a boss hero who isn’t all that he publicizes himself to be. They discover their own strengths, and particularly, the extraordinary qualities of a boy everyone thinks is nothing special.

It’s a goofy book that hits notes I have heard elsewhere, but makes its own unique music. Kids going to schools for junior superheroes are not new, nor is the idea of their grown-up idols being revealed as less than advertised. Also, I’ll admit that it’s a little on the lighter side for my taste, or maybe younger would be a better way to put it. In its favor, it scores some palpable hits on mindless commercialism and junk culture. Its characters form an effective ensemble, sharing a fun patter and a bunch of adventures that are, both at once, off-the-wall silly and embarrassingly close to one’s memories of childhood hijinks. It’s the kind of fantasy concept that fulfills many kids’ wish to live in a comic-book universe and, at the same time, makes them happy they don’t have to.

This is Book 1 of the Extraordinary Adventures of Ordinary Boy. Its sequels are The Return of Meteor Boy? and The Great Powers Outage. William Boniface is also the author of a novel titled Studs (there's a horse on the cover) and a couple dozen children's books, including What Do You Want on Your Pizza? and There's a Dinosaur in My Soup. Many of his titles have holiday themes and/or the words "Five Little" in them (Five Little Pumpkins, Five Little Bunny Rabbits, etc.).

The Book of Lost Things

The Book of Lost Things
by Cynthia Voigt
Recommended Ages: 10+

Max Starling's parents, a couple of flamboyant actors, are so overjoyed to be invited by a certain Maharajah of Kashmir to establish a royal theater in his country, they almost forget to take their son along. Then something mysterious happens and Max gets left behind after all – left to wonder what became of them, since no ship answering the name on their tickets actually docked at the harbor. So, Max is left at home to fend for himself, with a little help from his librarian Grammie who lives next door.

Keen to maintain his independence, Max adopts a variety of disguises based on characters from his parents' stage repertoire and begins a career for which, at first, he can't think of a name. Eventually he settles on "solutioneer," using his talent for going unnoticed and a gift for solving other people's problems to make just enough money to get by. Meanwhile, he and Grammie keep an eye out for news of the ships that departed the town's harbor that day. They try to figure out why a group of suspicious characters with long earlobes are interested in seeing the inside of Max's house. Max takes on a lodger, an unwanted assistant, and a role in some three-act dramas in the theater of life – the Lost Dog and the Lost Spoon, to name a few. He wrestles with ethical issues, an artistic crisis, a family misunderstanding and a romantic dilemma. And from time to time, he receives cryptic messages from his folks. What on earth could they be up to?

This is a smart, charming story featuring a most resourceful young hero. It is fun to appreciate, all at the same time, Max's offbeat talents, his strong personality, and the unusual structure his story takes on, at least in his mind. His independence, for his age, is evidently a product of his upbringing in a theater company. His life is definitely unlike that of most readers in his age group, which makes this adventure like a visit to a remarkable fantasy world. Yet at the same time, he deals with real issues with honesty and sincere concern that may stir serious reflections in those readers' hearts and minds.

This "book of lost things," not to be confused with a book of the same name by John Connolly, is the first installment of the Mister Max trilogy, which continues in The Book of Secrets and The Book of Kings. Cynthia Voigt is also the Newbery Medal-winning author of the Tillerman Cycle (Dicey's Song and six others), six Tales of the Kingdom books (Jackaroo etc.), six Bad Girls books, The Callender Papers, and about a dozen other young adult novels with such titles as Tell Me If the Lovers Are Losers; Izzy, Willy-Nilly; The Vandemark Mummy; Tree by Leaf; Glass Mountain; and When She Hollers.

The Golem of Paris

The Golem of Paris
by Jonathan Kellerman & Jesse Kellerman
Recommended Ages: 15+

At the end of the first Jacob Lev novel, a secret was revealed that was so preposterous – I mean, the fact that Jacob’s father had kept it from him – that it left an unpleasant aftertaste in a book that already asked us to suspend a lot of disbelief. Basically, the story squeezed an emotionally fragile LAPD detective between a hunt for a serial killer and a hush-hush organization’s quest to recapture the golem of Prague. Gradually, it becomes apparent that the victims of the bizarre crimes were themselves perpetrators of horrible deeds, done over a wide range of years and in cities all over the world, crimes no one ever connected together before Jacob. And the golem, who killed them, is sort of an avenging angel – only not an angel; rather, a clay monster who can shape-shift between a rare beetle and a beautiful woman and who, for some reason, has decided to be in an exclusive relationship with Jacob.

So. In this second novel, the surprise twist I had trouble swallowing at the end of Book 1 now rests uncomfortably in the gut. Jacob is still depressed, still drinks too much, still has trouble dealing with his father, and is still in career purgatory. The secretive group he sometimes works for, whether he wants to or not, are at least partly descended from angels, we learn. And the theme of connecting horrible crimes separated by many years and international boundaries continues to play in the background, with Jacob catching the scent of a killer who likes to pose the bodies of a mother-son pair so that they seem to be looking at each other.

Running parallel to Jacob’s present-day story is that of his mother, the former Barbara Reich, who rebelled against her atheist parents to become a religious Jew. Bina’s talent for ceramic arts – not to mention a nudge from some of those half-angel types – leads to her being interrogated by a brutal Russian scientist at a lunatic asylum in communist Czechoslovakia.

A lot of heavy consequences arise from this, affecting Jacob’s investigation in the present day – including the pursuit of a Russian billionaire in Paris. With angels breathing down one side of his neck and devils aiming their darts at the other, he pursues a disturbing line of inquiry through scenery that evokes dread and paranoia – not what one usually associates with France.

This novel conveys a powerful sensory and emotional load – most of it very, very dark. It’s got a good handle on the imagery, not to mention the taste and texture, of unremitting sadness in all its variations. It also bears eloquent witness to the horrors done in the name of Communism in the Brezhnev era. Betrayal and faithful love are presented as having about the same potential to inflict personal damage. And ancient mysteries are depicted in a way that seems to dim the light of modernity as it shines on them. It’s a unique effect – not what one would call fun to read, yet at the same time impossible to put down.

This is the second Jacob Lev novel by the father-son writing team who also co-wrote two (going on three) Clay Edison mysteries. The previous installment was The Golem of Hollywood. At the risk of repeating myself, Jonathan is the author of the long-running Dr. Alex Delaware series, while Jesse has also written the novels Sunstroke, Trouble, The Genius, The Executor and Potboiler.

The Doom Machine

The Doom Machine
by Mark Teague
Recommended Ages: 12+

If you’re a mildly delinquent boy with a knack for souping up flying saucers, Vern Hollow, N.Y. circa 1956 is a good place to grow up. Luckily for him, not to mention the world and the galaxy, Jack Creedle is the right boy at the right time and place. They’ve landed, and most of the town has fled in terror, but Jack still pedals his paper route and tinkers with cars at his uncle’s repair shop. Also, his mom goes on running a boarding house where, any given day, the guests might range from a hobo to a prominent Boston scientist and her brainy daughter.

On that particular day, another trainload of guests show up – the army, rarin’ to fight the saucerful of skreeps that have invaded the town. Meanwhile, the skreeps – who resemble giant spiders – are looking for a Special Item that they’re sure is hidden somewhere in town. Actually, the Special Item is a gadget that Jack’s Uncle Bud invented, which is the only thing the skreeps need to add Earth to their galactic empire.

Before you can say “Sputnik,” Jack, Uncle Bud, the scientist and her daughter, the town sheriff and his unpleasant son are all swept away on a space adventure involving shipwreck, spacetime anomalies, people-eating monsters, an arduous trek across an alien landscape, gladiatorial games, pirates, illusions, heaps of smelly garbage and a planetary revolution in the political, rather than astronomical, sense.

Jack gets to show off his flying saucer souping-up skills. Isadora, the smart girl, demonstrates superior aim with her throwing arm. They both pick up special abilities along the way, including the ability to communicate in alien languages (thanks to a carroty kind of thing that otherwise has no nutritional value), to pass invisibly through a crowd and to perform acts of healing. Her mom and his uncle also have roles to play, for the making or breaking of worlds upon worlds. The question becomes whether they can live up to a prophecy, started (apparently) by some slave deep in the mines of Skreepia, that says someone just like them will save the world. From itself, like.

I enjoyed this book so much that I shared this book with my dad. He felt it had a slow start and a weak ending. I couldn’t agree. I was entertained all the way through, but I guess I was somewhere in the middle of the book when it came home to me that I was experiencing something much greater than the apparent sum of its parts. It’s a really far-out adventure, brimming with imaginative detail and vibrant characters. Inwardly, I squirmed with evil pleasure as the skreepish characters acted according to their nature – completely unsavory, even at times a bit horrifying, yet somehow perversely relatable.

I also got a kick out of the way Jack instinctively knows what tools and engine parts do, without having any notion of what they’re named. Lines like “Hand me that squidgy thing with the red handle” (not a direct quote) made me laugh out loud. The way two very different kids came together to solve a galaxy-sized problem actually warmed me inside. Their remarks, at the moment when their doom seemed inevitable, touched me. And Ma Creedle’s line at the very end of the book gave me a satisfying feeling that the story goes on – although there doesn’t seem to be any sign of a sequel, so far.

This 2009 book is, as far as I know, the only novel by a children's book author and illustrator who has provided art for such books as Cynthia Rylant's Poppleton series, Shana Corey's First Graders from Mars series and Jane Yolen's Dinosaurs series. His own self-illustrated books include The Field Beyond the Outfield, How I Spent My Summer Vacation, Frog Medicine, and Dear Mrs. LaRue: Letters from Obedience School.

Another Book Wish List

Last year, I posted a sort of gift registry for my reading aims in the next, oh, 20 years or so. This past week, a social media friend of mine posted a list of books or series that he and his family enjoyed after finishing the Harry Potter series. There were quite a few titles on the list that I've read, reviewed and enjoyed. But there were also many, many, many books I've not gotten around to reading, or in some cases never heard of before – as well as reminders about series that I've lost touch with and really should get back into.

So, further to my previous Book Wish List (which I still consult from time to time, and try to remember to cross off items that I've acquired), here are my reading goals based on my friend's list. Thanks, Rick!

Note: "etc." means "and the series that follows." Anything in parentheses after "etc." is the title of the series, if it isn't obvious from the initial title. Some of the titles are, I now see, duplicated in my previous list. Oh, well!

• Lloyd Alexander, The Illyrian Adventure etc. (Vesper Holly)
• Lesley M.M. Blume, Cornelia and the Audacious Escapades of the Somerset Sisters, The Rising Star of Rusty Nail, Tennyson, Julia and the Art of Practical Travel
• William Boniface, The Hero Revealed etc. (Ordinary Boy)
• Pseudonymous Bosch, This Book Is Not Good for You etc. (Secret)
• Cinda Williams Chima, The Sorcerer Heir
• Lisa M. Clark, Discovered, Concealed and Revealed (The Messengers series)
• Sharon Creech, The Great Unexpected
• Richard Paul Evans, The Prisoner of Cell 25 etc. (Michael Vey)
• John Flanagan, The Ruins of Gorland etc. (Ranger's Apprentice); The Outcasts etc. (Brotherband)
• Mark Frost, The Paladin Prophecy etc.

• Dan Gemeinhart, Some Kind of Courage, The Honest Truth, Scar Island, Good Dog
• Adam Gopnik, The Steps Across the Water
• Lisa Graff, Lost in the Sun, Umbrella Summer, A Tangle of Knots, A Clatter of Jars, Absolutely Almost
• Margaret Peterson Haddix, Among the Hidden etc. (Shadow Children); Found etc. (Missing)
• Drew Hayes, The Utterly Uninteresting & Unadventurous Tales of Fred, the Vampire Accountant etc.; Super Powereds Year 1 etc.; NPCs etc.; Forging Hephaestus
• Robin Hobb, Assassin's Apprentice etc.
• Polly Horvath, One Year in Coal Harbor, The Night Garden, Mr. and Mrs. Bunny, Very Rich
• Matthew Jobin, The Nethergrim etc.
• Curtis Jobling, The Rise of the Wolf etc. (Wereworld)
• S.J. Kincaid, Insignia etc.; The Empress (sequel to The Diabolic)
• Matthew J. Kirby, Icefall
• Ingrid Law, Switch
• Claire Legrand, The Year of Shadows
• Wendy Mass, The Candymakers, The Candymakers and the Great Chocolate Chase
• Lisa McMann, The Unwanteds etc.
• Kate Milford, The Boneshaker, The Broken Lands
• Christopher Nuttall, Schooled in Magic etc.; The Royal Sorceress etc.; Bookworm etc.; The Zero Blessing etc.
• R.J. Palacio, Wonder, Auggie & Me
• H.G. Parry, The Unlikely Escape of Uriah Heep

• Andrew Peterson, On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness etc. (Wingfeather Saga)
• Robert A. Polk, Operation Tree Roper
• Terry Pratchett, Dodger
• Geoff Rodkey, Deadweather and Sunrise etc. (Chronicles of Egg)
• Laura Amy Schlitz, Splendors and Glooms
• S.D. Smith, The Green Ember etc., Insignia etc.
• John Stephens, The Fire Chronicle and The Black Reckoning (Books of Beginning)
• Trenton Lee Stewart, Secret Keepers, Mysterious Benedict Society & the Riddle of Ages, The Extraordinary Education of Nicholas Benedict
• Cynthia Voigt, The Book of Lost Things etc. (Mister Max)
• Ben H. Winters, The Secret Life of Ms. Finkleman, The Mystery of the Missing Everything
• Dan Wells, Partials etc.

UPDATE: I went on my regional library's online catalog this afternoon (off the clock!) and checked the availability of a bunch of these titles, then I shopped Thriftbooks for the ones I couldn't get through the library system. Three are locally available; I was able to request eight titles from the library system; and seven of them combined in a $33.30 purchase with free shipping. Excuse me if I resemble a pig in @#$%. I'm also going to cross off the titles I got hold of, either by purchase or from the library.

Monstrous Devices

Monstrous Devices
by Damien Love
Recommended Ages: 12+

Life takes a strange turn for Alex, a bullied London schoolboy, when he receives a toy robot in the mail from his grandfather – possibly the original toy based on the early 20th century Czech play that coined the word “robot.” Soon afterward, Alex is attacked in his bedroom by several other toy robots that seem to have come to life. Also, he senses that his own robot has a mind of its own, offering him a power that he secretly covets.

Promptly, Granddad shows up and sweeps Alex off on a perilous adventure across Europe, while a tall man, a nasty little girl, and their henchmen pursue them. Everywhere they turn, the boy and his grandfather are strafed by tiny flying machines, watched if not actively chased by toys on wheels and treads and wobbly legs. Some of the robots are as big as people, but they’re all dangerous, all animated by villains who have learned to bind machines to their will by sacrificing bits of themselves to their whirring cogs. Yet again, Alex is drawn to them, haunted by a sense of familiarity.

Together, Alex and his granddad fight their way through Paris, the French countryside, and finally Prague, racing an enemy armed with killer robots. Eventually, Alex’s new toy proves to contain the clay tablet bearing the 72 Hebrew names of God that animated the original golem of Prague. Once it gets into the wrong hands, it’s only a matter of time until the same clay monster runs amok (amuck?) again. It’s the familiar legend of Rabbi Loew warmed up for the machine age – old terror, new look – with nobody but a scared English schoolboy to stop it.

This book is easy to love. Besides the fact that my recent readings have, just by chance, let me review the Rabbi Loew/golem of Prague legend from another angle, and the obvious combination of eerie mystery, supernatural horror and high-paced action, it’s just super-funny.

For example, Grandfather has this endearing character trait of indulging in bad habits (like smoking, drinking, eating fattening food and walking on ledges outside highrise buildings) while warning his grandson never, ever to do the same. Alex, meanwhile, has a vulnerability that goes straight to the heart – though he, too, is a very imperfect fellow. Maybe his most disturbing flaw is the one that will make the end of this book a hook into Book 2.

This is the debut novel of a Scottish author whose book jacket blurb claims he has the ability to talk to cats, but admits there is no evidence they understand him. A sequel, titled The Shadow Arts, is scheduled for release March 3, 2020.