Book Review: Candy Shop Wars
Once again, I find myself writing a book review. Maybe later this week, or perhaps next week, I will write something a little more in depth or interesting to people who know my life. But at the moment, either nothing is coming to mind, or ideas that I had previously are not coming to fruition at my fingertips.
One of my coworkers very strongly recommended the Fablehaven series (which I will review, once I read all of the books out). And that is how I got interested in Brandon Mull. He is not one of those writers whose writing you just breeze through. In fact, it will often take me longer to finish a Brandon Mull "middle-reader" than some adult books, and probably all YA. But they are good.
One thing I like about Brandon Mull so much is that he doesn't dumb it down--he makes the emotions things that young readers can relate too (because the POV characters are children themselves), but the language is more complex. And I firmly believe that children get bigger vocabularies by interacting with difficult vocabularies. And I don't agree with making children read "easier things," because one of the best ways to learn is to be outside of your level. I had a piano student that really wanted to learn to play a piano piece that was way out of her level. But she wanted to learn it. And she worked very hard to do so, and I firmly believe that she got so much out of that piece, because it pushed her comfort zone so much. My younger brother struggled to learn how to read for a long time (dyslexia's a you know what, right?). The teachers all insisted that he only read book that were in his "reading level," which, quite frankly consisted of masterpieces like See Spot Run. However, even though he couldn't read, he was highly, highly intelligent, and liked to hang out with other intelligent children. Other fourth graders who were reading things like Lord of the Rings, and Ender's Game, and the like (though now that I've read Ender's Game, I wonder that a fourth grader would...never mind). Anyways, my little brother really, really, really wanted to read Lord of the Rings. He was told that he couldn't read Lord of the Rings, it was too hard. Well, guess what? Lord of the Rings, for whatever my extended family may say of it (cough, Uncle Phil, cough Grandpa Hatch), taught my little brother to read. Just so that this story has a nice little wrap-up, that brother got into a major university (BYU) with generous scholarships, can read very fluently (in more than one language--and can code in multiple computer languages), has an IB diploma (with a higher score than me, Miss Reading Came Naturally), was regional MVP in New York State masterminds, first chair cello, etc. etc. Basically, you would never be able to tell today that he was ever unable to read in the fourth grade. And, other than the fact that family scripture read-aloud in the Aasaphatadat begat Poalshikilik section being very entertaining, you can't really tell that he's dyslexic.
My point is, Brandon Mull writes for children without making sure no words are over five letters, and no sentences are over nine words. And I think that's a good thing.
Anyways, now that I've completely gone off topic, back to the book reviewing. So, at one point, I checked at the library for the next Fablehaven book, and it wasn't there. But Candy Shop Wars was, and I'd heard good things about it too. So I decided to read it.
Originally intended to be a stand-alone, but made into a two-fer at the behest of Mull's fans, Candy Shop Wars follows a group of friends, led up by Nate, who get mixed up in magic. Magical candy to be exact. Along with the magical police, and a good magician, they fight to preserve choice and happiness for their town.
It's a fun read, and once again, Mull's wonderful writing and masterful dialogue embellish his vivid and glorious imagination...I don't know how he thinks up all these things. The only explanation is that he is a child that never really grew up.
I enjoyed both of these reads fully. And it doesn't hurt to support LDS authors--and before you say I'm a bigot, I don't only read LDS authors, but everyone likes to support their own kind, right? And LDS is my culture as well as my religion, and anyone who says otherwise is crazy. And he also went to BYU. I ask you, once again...why, when we have Brandon Mull and James Dashner and Orson Scott Card and Brandon Sanderson as BYU alumni writers, we tell people about Stephenie Meyer? Also, we have Don Bluth--yeah, the guy who came up with American Tail and Anastasia and Land Before Time.
It did lack a little bit of the spark that my favorite books have, but it was just something I couldn't quite put my finger on.
Four stars for the first, three for the second, and four for the series over all.
--And I am scatter-brained today, as I read through this post.
One of my coworkers very strongly recommended the Fablehaven series (which I will review, once I read all of the books out). And that is how I got interested in Brandon Mull. He is not one of those writers whose writing you just breeze through. In fact, it will often take me longer to finish a Brandon Mull "middle-reader" than some adult books, and probably all YA. But they are good.
One thing I like about Brandon Mull so much is that he doesn't dumb it down--he makes the emotions things that young readers can relate too (because the POV characters are children themselves), but the language is more complex. And I firmly believe that children get bigger vocabularies by interacting with difficult vocabularies. And I don't agree with making children read "easier things," because one of the best ways to learn is to be outside of your level. I had a piano student that really wanted to learn to play a piano piece that was way out of her level. But she wanted to learn it. And she worked very hard to do so, and I firmly believe that she got so much out of that piece, because it pushed her comfort zone so much. My younger brother struggled to learn how to read for a long time (dyslexia's a you know what, right?). The teachers all insisted that he only read book that were in his "reading level," which, quite frankly consisted of masterpieces like See Spot Run. However, even though he couldn't read, he was highly, highly intelligent, and liked to hang out with other intelligent children. Other fourth graders who were reading things like Lord of the Rings, and Ender's Game, and the like (though now that I've read Ender's Game, I wonder that a fourth grader would...never mind). Anyways, my little brother really, really, really wanted to read Lord of the Rings. He was told that he couldn't read Lord of the Rings, it was too hard. Well, guess what? Lord of the Rings, for whatever my extended family may say of it (cough, Uncle Phil, cough Grandpa Hatch), taught my little brother to read. Just so that this story has a nice little wrap-up, that brother got into a major university (BYU) with generous scholarships, can read very fluently (in more than one language--and can code in multiple computer languages), has an IB diploma (with a higher score than me, Miss Reading Came Naturally), was regional MVP in New York State masterminds, first chair cello, etc. etc. Basically, you would never be able to tell today that he was ever unable to read in the fourth grade. And, other than the fact that family scripture read-aloud in the Aasaphatadat begat Poalshikilik section being very entertaining, you can't really tell that he's dyslexic.
My point is, Brandon Mull writes for children without making sure no words are over five letters, and no sentences are over nine words. And I think that's a good thing.
Anyways, now that I've completely gone off topic, back to the book reviewing. So, at one point, I checked at the library for the next Fablehaven book, and it wasn't there. But Candy Shop Wars was, and I'd heard good things about it too. So I decided to read it.
Originally intended to be a stand-alone, but made into a two-fer at the behest of Mull's fans, Candy Shop Wars follows a group of friends, led up by Nate, who get mixed up in magic. Magical candy to be exact. Along with the magical police, and a good magician, they fight to preserve choice and happiness for their town.
It's a fun read, and once again, Mull's wonderful writing and masterful dialogue embellish his vivid and glorious imagination...I don't know how he thinks up all these things. The only explanation is that he is a child that never really grew up.
I enjoyed both of these reads fully. And it doesn't hurt to support LDS authors--and before you say I'm a bigot, I don't only read LDS authors, but everyone likes to support their own kind, right? And LDS is my culture as well as my religion, and anyone who says otherwise is crazy. And he also went to BYU. I ask you, once again...why, when we have Brandon Mull and James Dashner and Orson Scott Card and Brandon Sanderson as BYU alumni writers, we tell people about Stephenie Meyer? Also, we have Don Bluth--yeah, the guy who came up with American Tail and Anastasia and Land Before Time.
It did lack a little bit of the spark that my favorite books have, but it was just something I couldn't quite put my finger on.
Four stars for the first, three for the second, and four for the series over all.
--And I am scatter-brained today, as I read through this post.
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