The Candymakers

Each of the four contestants experience significant personal growth from the beginning of the contest until the end. Choose one character and focus on how they grow over the course of the contest. How does their personal growth compare to the other characters? How is it similar?

Friendship is an important theme throughout the novel. How are the four contestants shaped by their friendships with each other? Think specifically about how the characters change as a result of their friendships with each other. 

At one point, Philip says that he feels “as trapped as [the butterfly] must feel” (303) while it’s inside its chrysalis. In what ways does he feel trapped? In what ways does he feel free by the end of the novel?

The secret ingredient is the source of much of the contention throughout the candy contest. Explore the secret ingredient’s significance. What does it mean to each character? How does the Candymaker’s revelation about its contents change the meaning for each character?

Consider the note that Logan first reads to the other contestants when he meets them: “Be not forgetful to entertain strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares” (20). How does Logan use this note to guide how he treats the other contestants? 

When Logan thinks about his scars, he says, “Some people have scars on the inside, and other people’s are on the outside. It shouldn’t matter” (423). How does this quote relate to him and the other contestants? Consider the connection he makes between inner and outer scars. 

Explore the similarities and differences between Logan and Philip. How are they different? What similarities make them parallel characters?

Consider the narration style of the novel. Why do you think the author chose to tell the story from four different perspectives? What does it add to the story? How might the story have been different if it had only been told from Logan’s perspective?