Set in the 1990s in a small Southern town, THE GOLDWYN COUNTY CANDY BAN is about just that: the judge in a county has issued a decree making sugary snacks illegal. Just starting middle school, eleven-year-old Chat keeps his head down and focuses on studying until he stumbles across a duffel bag full of candy in the woods. Hoping to sell it so he can buy a necklace for his crush, Chat and his best friend Freddie inadvertently join a gang war between the local troublemaker and the son of that very same wealthy judge. Armed with paintball and BB guns, the boys bike across the county, engage in go-cart races, and skip school despite intimidating teachers in an attempt to take down the opposing gang of candy dealers.
The at-first whimsical premise of candy being illegal turns more serious through the eyes of preteen boys and a menacing judge who claims to be prioritizing children’s health. An innocuous crime doesn’t mean minimal consequences; those are big and real here. The threat of jail time and gang violence keeps the stakes high, and tense action scenes propel the plot. While a traumatic twist near the end does feel at odds with the humor infused in the rest of the story, it still hammers the book’s message home: imposing tyrannical control is more damaging than the outlawed products or behaviors could ever be.
The book’s austral 90s setting shimmers with nostalgia and Southern charm. Conversations between background characters, including protesters and regulars at a diner, spice up the setting to bolster the sense of place and time. Characters, school, treehouse and bedroom settings, and the town’s politics alike feel real and tangible through Zerber’s lush prose. As Chat bikes from one side of the county to another, a “glassy mirage dancing on the paved road played with his eyes a little”—just one example of the evocative imagery found throughout the novel.
While female characters are limited to annoying sisters, protective mothers, and soft-spoken love interests, Chat and his friends and foes emerge with fully formed, charming personalities. Witty banter helps, too, as when Chat’s friend tells him to “stop correcting people” and Chat replies, “What am I supposed to do? Just let people be wrong?” Characters grow and change to accommodate the intensity of their county’s upheaval and the tearing away of their childhood joy. What Chat learns from the gang war doesn’t offer a heartwarming message in this coming-of-age, which makes it all the more poignant.
With memorable characters and a tangible setting, J.Z. Zerber’s THE GOLDWYN COUNTY CANDY BAN weaves a tragicomic tale of 1990s boyhood.
Through lush, cinematic prose, J.Z. Zerber’s THE GOLDWYN COUNTY CANDY BAN weaves a humorous tale of 1990s boyhood with memorable characters and a tangible setting.
~ Aimée Jodoin for IndieReader