Line #83 Literature/TheCandyShopWar


1	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/candy_shop_war_cover.jpg]]
2	-->''NEVER TAKE CANDY FROM STRANGERS!''
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4	''The Candy Shop War'' is a children's/young adult fantasy novel by Brandon Mull, who also wrote ''Literature/{{Fablehaven}}.'' If you're familiar with the latter, you probably know what you're in for here: Quirky, [[PeripheryDemographic Young At Heart's]] UrbanFantasy with a ''striking'' amount of darkness.
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6	Cynical Nate is the new kid in the tiny town of Colson, California. On his first day, he has the good luck to fall in with the Blue Falcons, a group of friends with a nondescript club (It's gone from treasure-hunting to tresspassing and more). Clever Trevor, fearless Summer, and brainy Pigeon (real name: Paul) quickly come to like snarky Nate, and accept him into the club after he charges local bullies Denny, Kyle, and Eric. Nate isn't the only new thing in town, though: There's also a new candy shop, the Sweet Tooth Ice Cream and Candy Shoppe. The kids stop in for some candy after a rough first day at school, and are pleased to find that the shopkeeper, Ms. White, is as kindly as she is good at making candy. But she accidentally lets slip word of "Secret Candy". What's this now? She promises she'll tell them if they ask again after getting to know her more. So they do a few chores for her shop. She gives them a "special assignment:" Go get some beetle eggs in mushrooms. They do, and she gives them a taste.
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8	The "special candy" is ''magical.'' The first confection she gives them: Moon Rocks, which allow the person eating them to jump great distances. She's a magician, and she manufactures these magical sweets. She's not the only one in town. To say nothing of the guy who shows up in town to ''hunt'' magicians...
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10	If the cutesy premise (magical candy that gives kids superpowers!) sounds [[IncrediblyLamePun sweet]] and fluffy... Don't be fooled. Things will get much, ''much'' worse before the end, and our four {{Kid Hero}}es will quickly find themselves in ''far'' over their head...
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12	The sequel, ''The Arcade Catastrophe,'' takes place one year after the events of the original. A new family fun center, called Arcadeland, opens up in Colson, and many local kids seem to be addicted to trying to collect tickets from the machines. The Blue Falcons quickly figure out that a new magician is in town and trying to recruit children to their ends. This would be suspicious enough, except that two extremely powerful people have just gone missing: John Dart, who polices nefarious magicians, and Mozag, the most powerful magician in the world. The Blue Falcons quickly connect the dots, and soon find themselves dragged into a new web of magical mayhem: This magician gives out ink stamps which bestow powerful effects. The problem? There are many, many other kids who've been taken in. And while the Falcons know what magicians are capable of, these new kids aren't...
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14	Not to be confused with ''Literature/TheChocolateWar''.
15
16	!! This book provides examples of:
17	* AddedAlliterativeAppeal: The Bestial Biscuits in the second book: When Nate asks why Mr. Stott calls them "biscuits" instead of "cookies," since he's not British, Mr. Stott admits he only did it [[InUniverse because he likes alliteration.]]
18	* AdultsAreUseless: The parents are [[spoiler: under the effects of white fudge, so they can't help even when Nate realizes he might need them.]] [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]] later on with Mr. Stott and John Dart.
19	* AmbiguouslyBrown: Trevor. He's described as "olive-skinned", and his mother is somewhat darker. He's not white, because when he eats an ethnicity-swapping Melting Pot Mixer, he's turned into a freckly redhead. But he could be anything, really.
20	* AmnesiacDissonance: [[spoiler: Linda isn't such a bad kid.]]
21	** This trope is a major cornerstone of her character development in the sequel. [[spoiler: When she finally does learn the truth, she is horrified... but she realizes that her past doesn't have to define her and that she can become anyone she wants to. She even thanks Nate for giving her a second chance.]]
22	%%* AntiHero: John.
23	* BadassLongcoat: Justified, in a sense, for John, as he's never really outgrown his [[spoiler: 1920's mobster]] fashion sense.
24	%%* BadFuture
25	* BadSamaritan: [[spoiler: Mrs. White.]]
26	* BlankSlate: [[spoiler: The villain literally becomes this as a way of defeating her.]]
27	%%* BlobMonster
28	* BodyHorror: The Flatman. Unholy combination of man and flounder, floating in formaldahyde. * shudder* The Slopgut probably counts, too.
29	* BoundAndGagged: Happens to quite a lot of poeple later in the book, both hero and villain, kid and adult. As in, it happens to both good adult characters and bad ones, the [[KidHero kid heroes]] and the bullies. Yup.
30	* BrickJoke: In the very first chapter, John complains about needing a better job. The final chapter is entitled, "Better Jobs for John." [[spoiler: Geriatric nurse, cab-driver, coyote-caretaker, babysitter...]]
31	* CantLiveWithoutYou: [[spoiler:The family of Haag and the key to the room that holds the Fountain of Youth. Gary mentions once that in order to teach him the importance of keeping the key safe, his uncle threw it in a sink, and they both starting drowning on dry land.]]
32	* CassandraTruth: [[spoiler: When Nate occupies the body of the hobo, none of his friends believe his warnings about the future.]]
33	** In the sequel, none of the other kids are generally willing to listen to the Blue Falcon's warnings about magicians.
34	* CatchPhrase: Pigeon's "I just like to read books about [INSERT TOPIC HERE]!"
35	* ChekhovsGun: [[spoiler: "It's not everyone who gets a chance to start over with a Clean Slate!"]]
36	* ConspicuousTrenchcoat: John has the fedora to go along with it, too.
37	* CoversAlwaysLie: The scene depicted on the cover of the cover of the second book doesn't actually happen. [[spoiler: Well, it does, but it's merely heavily implied, and only at the very end of the book--literally, just before the epilogue.]]
38	* DeadpanSnarker: Nate; the other kids actually have to tell him to actually lighten up on his friends from time to time.
39	** And John, for great justice.
40	* DistressedDude: John Dart and Mozag spend a great deal of the second book kidnapped.
41	%%* EarnYourHappyEnding
42	* EmergencyTransformation: This is where the Flatman came from, it was the only way Mr. Stott could think of to save the life of a favored apprentice. Said apprentice seems to be happy with his new life.
43	* EyeScream: [[spoiler: Destroying Mrs. White's spying bubble actually ''shoots her eye out.'']]
44	* FireIceLightning: The three main types of offensive candy they use are Shock Bits, Flame Outs, and Frost Bites. You can probably guess from the names which ones each confirms to.
45	* FlyingBrick: [[spoiler: In the finale of the second book, Lindy and Chris become these by combining Jet stamps with Tank stamps.]]
46	%%* FountainOfYouth
47	* FutureLoser: [[spoiler: Subverted. The crazy hobo claims to be Nate from the BadFuture, but they note that he doesn't look anything like Nate. He isn't. He's just got Nate's mind in him.]]
48	* GirlsHaveCooties: Played as a throwaway joke. A boy changes bodies and becomes a girl, and considers that he'd have to get himself checked out for cooties sometime. Later, this same fifth-grade boy finds a certain girl to be cute, so apparently he was only joking about the cooties.
49	* TheGoodTheBadAndTheEvil: The book falls somewhere between this and BlackAndGrayMorality in the ShadesOfConflict. The kids are good, but, being kids, they're sometimes [[KidsAreCruel surprisingly cruel.]] The ''adult'' good guys can act pretty "WTF?" at times. But the bad guy is pretty undeniably bad.
50	%%* GraveRobbing
51	* HappilyAdopted: In the sequel, Mr. Stott has an adopted daughter, Lindy. He loves her immensely, and she him.
52	* HealingFactor: John has one.
53	* HoistByHisOwnPetard: [[spoiler: Mrs. White gets fed her own Clean Slate by way of defeat.]]
54	* HostageSpiritLink: This is exactly John's curse. Any harm he does will be done to him.
55	* ImpossiblyDeliciousFood: [[spoiler: Mind control aside]], seriously, try some white fudge sometime. It's good stuff.
56	* KidHero: Though with some adult help.
57	* LatexPerfection: Magical perfection, actually--the Melting Pot Mixers disguise you by changing your ethnicity.
58	* LittleProfessorDialogue: Lindy in the sequel. [[spoiler: Makes sense, considering she used to be an adult.]]
59	* MayContainEvil: [[spoiler:White fudge.]] Ironically, if you've never had the real deal before, you may be hankering for a taste once you set this book down.
60	** Nacho cheese in the sequel. Due to their past experiences, they figure this out right away. [[spoiler: Turns out it's an old White family recipe.]]
61	* NatureVersusNurture: In the early parts of the sequel, some of the characters are still wondering about [[spoiler: Lindy, and if a new magician being in town will trigger her to start acting cruelly again, and if she is somehow, inherently, evil.]] In fact, the phrase "nature versus nurture" is [[LampshadeHanging explicitly brought up.]] [[spoiler: Not only has Mr. Stott [[HappilyAdopted been bringing her up right,]] when she learns of her past, she realizes how lucky she's been to get to start over, and is overjoyed that she's no longer a horrible person. So it's "nurture" after all.]]
62	* NighInvulnerable: Need to be this for a while? Down an Ironhide jawbreaker. The Tank stamps in the sequel have a similar effects.
63	* NoSelfBuffs: Magic works best on the young, so magicians can't get the full benefits of their own magical workings. [[spoiler: Hence why they get kids to do their dirty work for them.]]
64	* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: Pigeon has been Pigeon since second grade.
65	* OrcusOnHisThrone: {{Justified}}. Magicians can't set foot outside their sanctums without [[NoOntologicalInertia instantly reverting to]] [[ReallySevenHundredYearsOld their true ages]], so they have to work through proxies and apprentices to accomplish their goals.
66	* ParentalObliviousness: Thanks to the [[spoiler:white fudge.]]
67	* PayEvilUntoEvil: Of the "Let's give these bullies a taste of their own medicine" variety.
68	* PowerDegeneration: One type of Apprentice has this--they have birthmarks which get bigger as they use their powers, and they die when it covers their entire body.
69	* RealityChangingMiniature: The powers of a Simulacrist: They can build miniatures which allow them to change the world by changing the miniature.
70	** [[spoiler: Uweya is one of these for ''the entire world.'']]
71	* RequiredSecondaryPowers: Actually repeatedly brought up--such as a gravity-enhancing treat reinforcing bodies (so they don't crush in the enhanced pull), or Pigeon mulling over all the extra things the [[spoiler: Brain Feed]] must do [[spoiler: to make animals act so intelligently.]]
72	** In the sequel, the required secondary powers of the Tank stamps are brought up and used almost as frequently as the main effect (making kids really strong and tough).
73	* SimilarSquad: Roman, Chris, and Marisa in the sequel are similar to Nate, Trevor, Summer and Pigeon, especially in the position they find themselves in and the way they react.
74	* SmashingHallwayTrapsOfDoom: The tower of the Protector [[spoiler: and the hall leading to Uweya]] in the sequel is full of them. [[spoiler: Only the Tanks, with their super-endurance, can make it through.]]
75	* SpaceWhaleAesop: Actually used ''in-story.'' A character actually ''says'' "Don't take candy from strangers, because it could be magically enchanted candy", and just about everyone reacts with "...Yeah, like ''that'll'' ever happen".
76	** Joined to this is the more realistic moral that just because someone seems to be nice and offers gifts, it doesn't mean they necessarily have one's best interests in mind.
77	* StealthPun: Each "club" of kids in the sequel are named after their stamps, and [[spoiler: Jonas]] brings up that the Jets are "just like ''Theatre/WestSideStory.'' The pun comes [[spoiler: once they claim the Submarine's stamps, which let them fly and swim... effectively making them Jets ''and'' Sharks]].
78	* TalkingAnimal: [[spoiler: Brain Feed has this as its specific effect.]]
79	* TheWallsHaveEyes: The main characters are constantly stalked by a strange, floating, disembodied eye-like thing. When they realize who it belongs to, they shoot at it to destroy it... [[spoiler:...when they quickly realize they [[EyeScream shot out the bad guy's actual eye]].]]
80	%%* YouAlreadyChangedThePast

Context Literature / TheCandyShopWar