October Grades 5-6 Book Club: The Candymakers

For October's Book Club, we read The Candymakers by Wendy Mass. Anthony, Claire, Emma, Madison, Maida and Reagan were present. Here's a little bit of what we discussed.

Whose perspective is The Candymakers told from?

-Everybody
-Alternating

What was your favorite room or what room do you wish the Life is Sweet candy factory had?

-A room where they made caramel popsicles.
-A room of bread.
-A puppy pool party room.
-Nutella and chocolate room. Bread is on the floor.
-I wish it had a chocolate birthday party room. 
-A extended library.
-An animal rescue center.
-A room where it snowed sugar all day (Sugar Globe Room).
-Tropical room was a favorite.

What did each character (Logan, Miles, Daisy, Phillip) submit for the contest?

-Daisy submitted her 3 Gs.
-Harmonicandy
-Logan submitted the chocolate rocket.
-Miles submitted a peach cobbler.
-Alex Gruber submitted ice cream.

What is the “big mystery” in The Candymakers? The small ones? Clues given?

-The big secret is who wins the contest and what is the background of everybody.
-What was the secret ingredient?
-How did Logan get his scars? 
-What was Philip writing in his book?
-I was wondering why Philip was so picky.

What did you think the secret ingredient was?

-I thought it was a mix of dry ingredients.
-I thought it was purple sprinkles.
-I thought they put a little bit of mashed up cocoa beans.
-I thought it could be some kind of thing that isn't real with a crazy name because this seems like that kind of story.

What is each character’s motive for entering the contest? Do their motives change? If so, how?

-Daisy's motive is to get the secret ingredient and get out. Her motive only changed when they got to know each other.
-Logan was trying to carry on the family tradition.
-Miles was entered by the librarian of the town.
-Logan's motive went from winning to losing (so that he could save the factory).
-Philip's motive went from simply just winning to letting others help him so that he could prove his father wrong.

Why does Phillip have to win? If you were Logan, Daisy, or Miles, would you work with Phillip and let him win? Do you think Phillip would have won without their help?

-He has to win because his father will destroy the factory otherwise. 
-If I were one of the other characters, I would probably help him.
-He probably wouldn't have won without their help.
-Philip was almost afraid of what would happen if he ended up being at the front of the pack without other support.

A butterfly appears several times throughout the book. What could the butterfly represent?

-Change
-Happiness
-Hope

If you could create your own candy what would it be called? What ingredients would you use?

-I'm not going to create one.
-The Scream, made out of dark chocolate and grey caramel to look like a movie screen.
-I would call it Bullets, made out of a small layer of caramel coated with dark chocolate (bullet-size) coated with silver edible paint.
-I'd make a flute that works made out of all of the chocolates, caramel, cookies...any form of chocolate and cookies. That might be hard to make the keys move. 
-I would make a gummy-based candy but I'm not sure what it was called.
-I would make a giant piece of candy as big as this room made out of all of the candies in the world.
-Something with a gummy bottom so if you dropped it from the sky for a poor nation, it won't break or hurt them.
-A house made out of candy, like Hansel and Gretel. I would make a Village of Candy with Anthony, The Candymaker, as the mayor.

Why does Henry help Philip so much in the story?

-Because he's a good person.

-Maybe he recognized him from the accident.

The kids all became friends at the end of the book, kind of unexpectedly. Have you ever become friends with those you didn't expect to.

-The kids told their stories.

Who is your favorite character and why?

-Daisy because she's a spy.
-Daisy because she's unexpected.
-Logan because most of his life is pretty much secret, like his scars.
-Daisy because she's a spy and lives in a mansion.
-Daisy because she has spy gadgets.
-Philip because he's Philip and Daisy because she reminds him of my lifelong hero, James Bond.

Favorite/least favorite parts of book

-Favorite: Daisy's whole part. Least favorite: when Philip refuses candy

-Favorite: The whole book because I liked hearing about the creations. Least favorite: I didn't like hearing about the sorrow when Daisy disappeared.
-Favorite: reading about the creations. My least favorite was the candy.
-Favorite: when Daisy revealed that she was a spy. I didn't have a least favorite.
-Favorite: when Logan was sitting on the beach and Philip opened the thing and it was the toy truck. Least favorite when Henry told Philip what really happened.

Rated from 1-5 

-Two 3s
-Three 4s
-One 5


We will be meeting on Wednesday, November 15 at 3:00 p.m. in order to discuss Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery.

'Oh, it seems so wonderful that I'm going to live with you and belong to you. I've never belonged to anybody'

When a scrawny, freckled girl with bright red hair arrives on Prince Edward Island, Marilla and Matthew Cuthbert are taken by surprise; they'd asked for a quiet boy to help with the farm work at Green Gables. But how can you return a friendless child to a grim orphanage when she tells you her life so far has been a 'perfect graveyard of buried hopes'? And so, the beguiling chatterbox stays. Full of dreams, warmth and spirit, it is not long before Anne Shirley wins their hearts.-amazon.com


Copies of the next month's book can be picked up at the Circulation Desk a few days after the previous month's discussion. Please be sure to register so that Miss Lisa knows how many snacks to purchase!