The Candy Shop War

The following day, 10-year-old Nate is helping his family unpack. They have just moved to Colson from Southern California. Nate is unhappy about being relocated and misses his best friend. His mother encourages him to go outside and meet some local children. Nate climbs on his bike and intercepts a girl named Summer and two boys named Trevor and Pigeon. They debate allowing him to join their club, which is still in the formative stage, though they’ve decided to call themselves the Blue Falcons. Summer dares Nate to ride his bike down a steep hill and over a rickety ramp. Before he can complete the stunt, three sixth-grade bullies start pelting the children with clods of dirt. When Nate retaliates, they throw rocks at him before running away. Nate’s new friends are so impressed by his courage that they let him join their club.

On the first day of school, Nate finds himself in the same fifth-grade class as Summer and Pigeon. Their teacher is a sour woman named Miss Doulin. Pigeon quickly becomes her favorite pupil because he knows the answer to her history quiz. At lunch, Pigeon gets harassed by the bullies, Denny, Kyle, and Eric. Once again, Nate stands up to them, but his new friends advise him to back down to avoid another attack.

At the end of the school day, the four friends start walking home when they decide to investigate the new store in town. It’s called the Sweet Tooth Ice Cream and Candy Shoppe and is run by a pleasant older woman named Mrs. White. Since the children don’t have much money with them, she agrees to give them candy samples if they help tidy up the shop. Afterward, they are rewarded with sweet treats. When Mrs. White says, “‘Maybe I should have offered some of my secret candy instead,’ […] in a quiet tone, as if talking to herself” (44), their interest is piqued. Mrs. White says she will tell them about it another day.

Every day that week, the children return to the candy shop after school to perform chores in exchange for treats. Nate finally broaches the topic of the special candy again. Mrs. White says she will give them some if they complete a task for her. Shortly before sunset, they are instructed to lure a species of beetle to burrow in some mushroom caps using bait traps that Mrs. White has prepared. They are then supposed to bring the fungi back to her. Despite their misgivings about this strange errand, the children achieve their objective.

The next day, Mrs. White takes the mushrooms, and the children receive pieces of hard rock candy known as Moon Rocks. They scurry off to a secret hiding place in the woods known as the Nest to try the confection. As long as they suck on the candy, they become weightless and move about like someone walking on the moon. When they spit out the Moon Rocks, they return to Earth. Pigeon accidentally bounces into the creek and goes home to change clothes. When he returns, he sees a strange bubble floating over the Nest, but none of the others knows what it might mean.

The friends return to the candy shop to report their weightless experience to Mrs. White. She promises to give them several more types of magic candy if they distribute her special white fudge to their families to drum up business for her shop. She cautions the children not to sample the fudge themselves, or the magic candy won’t have any effect on them. Their families enjoy the fudge, which puts everyone in a pleasant, relaxed mood.

The next afternoon, the children encounter a stranger who looks like a homeless man. He says that he is a future version of Nate and cautions them, “‘Stay away from Sweet Tooth,’ the stranger warned, stumbling slightly. ‘You can’t trust Mrs. White. She’s dangerous. You can’t trust anyone!’ He was still rushing toward them” (67). The children think the man is drunk and ignore his warnings. He leaves when a crossing guard appears.

When they arrive at the candy shop, Mrs. White puts up a Closed sign so she can have a private conversation with her new assistants. She asks them to “borrow” a pocket watch and a journal from the local museum, claiming they belonged to her ancestor, Hanaver Mills. She will give the children magic candy and other equipment to help them enter the museum without being noticed. The Moon Rocks will help them jump to the second story of the building. Melting Pot Mixers will change their identities so they can’t be recognized. Shock Bits will allow them to send an electrical shock into anybody trying to stop them.

They will also receive a spray bottle whose contents temporarily dissolve windowpanes and Proxy Dust so that one of them can inhabit the body of a ten-inch doll to get inside the display case. The break-in is planned late for Friday night. Back home that evening, Nate learns that somebody has stolen the family SUV. Because his mother is distraught at the theft, Nate gives her some white fudge to calm her down.

On the night of the break-in, Trevor and Nate agree to go inside the museum while Summer and Pigeon keep a lookout outside the building. Once they all take the Melting Pot Mixers, they become unrecognizable. After climbing inside, Nate agrees to use the Proxy Dust to take control of the doll, which looks like a doctor in a surgical mask. He and Trevor snag the watch just as they hear Summer blowing a whistle outside. They are forced to escape quickly and must leave the journal behind.

Outside, Summer and Pigeon are attacked by John Dart, who demands to know what they’re doing. Using the Shock Bits, they manage to give him the slip. Later, when Trevor and Nate emerge, Dart goes after them, and they also need to use their Shock Bits to avoid capture. The boys flee before Dart can recover.