I don't know the kid, but I need a book . . .
Candymakers (by Wendy Mass) was my 2011 answer to the customer question "She/he's 11, and I don't know her/him, but I want to buy a book." Two reasons I shouldn't have liked this book: 1. The plot revolves around a mystery--I generally dislike/avoid mysteries. I know, this makes me a bit of an oddball among booksellers. 2. I usually hate books where the plot gets retold from several different perspectives; they get dull, I get bored, I put book down. Four reasons I adored this book: 1. Generic enough for kids whose reading preferences you may not know 2. Wendy Mass. Has not disappointed me yet--she is brilliant and tells unique stories. 3. Chocolate. 4. In a world where many young adult authors set out to write a trilogy/series (which strikes me as overly ambitious--they often end up stretching a story just to fill three books), Wendy Mass writes a compact, self-contained book of exactly the right length, that leaves the reader happy. 5. Ok, I lied, f...