The Candy Caper (Trouble at Table 5 #1) Tom Watson. 96 pages. [Source: Library]
First sentence: I’M MOLLY. I get things stuck in my head sometimes. I’ll give you a few examples. This morning, I had Froot Loops for breakfast. Froot Loops come in six different colors—red, orange, yellow, green, purple, and blue. When I poured the dry cereal into my bowl, I took the purple and green ones out. That’s because purple and green remind me of grapes. And I don’t like grapes because they come in big bunches and it’s hard to tell how many are in a bunch. I like to know how many things there are. That’s just me. So, I only had red, blue, orange, and yellow Froot Loops in my bowl. I ate all the blue ones first. It’s kind of hard to get only blue Froot Loops on your spoon, but it’s worth it. When I only had red, orange, and yellow Froot Loops left, I just ate them all. They could be mixed up. That’s because red and yellow make orange, so those Froot Loops are allowed to be together.
Premise/plot: Molly, our heroine, has great friends, Rosie and Simon. (Together, I believe, they make up table five). In this first book in a series, Molly has a problem. Molly becomes obsessed with figuring out how many skittles are in a glass jar in the principal's office. For days Molly, Rosie, and Simon brainstorm a way for Molly to get to the truth of the matter. Even if their plan leads to a little trouble.
My thoughts: I really loved this one. (Yes, I've read a handful of books this month already that I love.) I loved Molly. I love that Molly is understood and supported by her parents and by her friends. I love that she's not alone to deal with her mental health issues. To be fair, the book never once (at least to my recollection) ever uses the word "mental health" or "OCD" or "obsessive compulsive disorder." Perhaps this diagnosis is completely unfair...on my part. Maybe she's neuro atypical in another way. Maybe each reader can read into Molly's way-of-thinking (way-of-processing) whatever they want.
Her friends and family accept her 1000% for who she is. The conflict in this one isn't like most of the conflicts in other books. I found it relatable.
© 2022 Becky Laney of Young Readers
No comments:
Post a Comment