Candy Floss

Candyfloss

Written by: Jacqueline Wilson                                                            

Some common themes that shown through throughout this novel are listed below...

1.     -Families can still be functional even after a divorce.

2.    -Don’t let money and S.E.S. define who you are.  Even in poverty situations, love can still, and more than likely will, be present.

3.    -Friendships can occur even when you are least expecting them. 

4.    -Don’t follow the crowd, but instead think for yourself and make decisions on your own.

            The book recommends that its audience be between 9 to 12 years of age, and I definitely agree with this age range.  I believe students 9-12 years would find this book enjoyable because the font is a little larger than ‘normal’ books and a collage of pictures frontload each chapter.  However, even with these aspects the book, at first appearance, does not look like a ‘younger’ students’ book, and this may be a positive aspect for its audience.   Students with an interest in divorced families, step-families, poverty, or friendship may find this book enjoyable to read.  Both boys and girls may found the content of this book interesting; however, the appearance of the book is a bit girlish.  The cover of the book shows the feet of a girl wearing bright pink tights with hot pink sparks on them.  Also, the main character, and many other characters within the book, are female, and due to this boys may be turned off by this story.     

            My overall recommendation to this story is a positive one.  I actually recommended this book to a former classmate of mine.  I’m not sure I would assign this book to an entire class because I didn’t find any of the themes to be dominant enough to focus on.  However, I would recommend this book to my students as an individual read because the plot/content is quite enjoyable.  As previously mentioned, beginning each chapter a collage of black and white pictures were presented that foreshadowed what was to come.  I found this to be very interesting and fun, and I actually looked forward to starting a new chapter so I could view the collage and guess what was going to occur.  I think students would also appreciate this aspect of the book and give them something to look forward to as well.  The ending of the story is a happy one; however, Floss and her family go through a great amount of struggles in order to reach a happy ending.  I also really enjoyed the larger font in the book; however, it wasn’t so large that it was insulting to the reader.  The first paragraph and chapter is fun and exciting and draws the reader’s attention.  Also, the book is written in a first person point of view which will help the reader feel more connected to the main character.  I think this book would be a good choice for a reluctant reader because the story moves along quickly and keeps your attention, and also the story is simply written and doesn’t require deep analyses or further knowledge in order to understand the story.