Confessions of a Candy Snatcher
A night of Halloween fun gone wrong has Jonas wondering if he’s really a wolf in disguise in this fast-paced fiction debut delving into accountability, relationships . . . and zines.
For the past few years, twelve-year-old Jonas and his friends have competed to see how many bags of candy they can grab from unsuspecting trick-or-treaters. No one’s supposed to get hurt, just lose their treats. So Jonas is taken by surprise when one of his smaller targets fights back against his snatching attempt. He’s even more surprised when he starts to receive anonymous notes from someone who knows what happened that night. Jonas already has enough on his plate, between his parents’ ill-defined separation and his own guilt—guilt his friend Concepción challenges him to confront in a zine she’s creating around the prompt “What’s the worst thing you ever did?” It’s a complicated question, one that touches on issues of identity, maturity, physical boundaries, and safety.
Featuring zines crafted by award-winning illustrator Theodore Taylor III, Phoebe Sinclair’s debut novel relates an emotive, reflective story about the wonder—and mess—of growing up.
Published by Candlewick Press, 2023. Available in hardcover, ebook, audio book, and compact disc. Find it at your favorite local bookshop or Bookshop.org, Indiebound.org, Barnes & Noble, Amazon.
School Library Journal Starred Review
Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection
Reviews:
A profoundly relatable debut. . . . The tone is heartbreakingly innocent, brilliantly so, translating the confusion of middle school and the worry of growing up into the acceptance of all manner of hard truths. . . . Readers will be completely immersed in this unique, multilayered tale. . . this debut novel with a delightfully diverse cast provides a truthful account of peer pressure, divorce, and consent.
–School Library Journal (starred review)
The striking black-and-white illustrations in a variety of styles offer insights into the characters’ emotions in compelling ways. A creative debut about harnessing the courage to view yourself and your friendships clearly.
–Kirkus Reviews
A tween-made zine and the fallout surrounding a disrupted Halloween tradition force a Black 12-year-old to reckon with his actions in this lively work by debut author Sinclair and Taylor. . . . Twining the mystery behind Jonas’s fateful All Hallows’ Eve with grounded personal conflicts, Sinclair develops a uniquely rendered interpretation of a misunderstood tween seeking stability and a place to belong.
–Publishers Weekly
This story would interest middle school students and help them to realize that growing up is not always easy, but that owning up to your mistakes is always the right thing to do.
–School Library Connection
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Tonight’s Specials: Five Stories. One Vietnamese Restaurant.
The Styrofoam Rockets are in town, but getting to the show is only the beginning . . .
The possibilities are endless on a warm fall evening in Boston. A shy girl can step out of her comfort zone to make new connections. A frazzled aunt taking her niece out for a special treat can get tangled up in a stranger’s mystery. A bad second date can turn into a chance for something new. A waitress can brave a dinner that might be something more while being literally haunted by the ghost of her ex. A harried office manager can juggle an annoying Slack chain during a rare evening out.
Five authors from Table for Seven Press, Phoebe Sinclair, G.J. Crespo, Erin M. Dionne (as Mina Allan), Wendy M. McDonald, Megan M. Mullin, with a foreword by Annette Trossello, weave together short stories that explore the eternal question: “What if…?” when the promise of tickets to see a beloved band are on the horizon.
Grab a seat at the table and dig into Tonight’s Specials at Bookshop.org, Barnes & Noble, Amazon, or your favorite indie bookseller. Published by Table for 7 Press, 2024. Available in paperback and ebook.
Phoebe Sinclair Writes 