Candy in Action

by Matthue Roth

Candy Resnick is just the girl next door — if the girl next door happens to be a college freshman and part-time model with a wicked sense of humor. She and her best friend Velma jaunt around the world, flirt with rock stars and power brokers, and party in countries that don’t know the meaning of the word. All that changes one night, however, when Candy turns down a dinner invitation from the rich and powerful Preston Reign. Suddenly, she finds herself being stalked by a guy who never takes “no” for an answer. Drawn into his web and lacking direction for the first time in her life, Candy is on the run. Dodging bullets, blowing up buildings, being chased through exotic cities, she fights back with the only weapons she has: Velma, her natural wit, and her stiletto heels. Candy in Action is a hilarious novel with a serious message about the lonely side of being popular and the importance of standing your ground.

Genres: Young Adult

224 pages, Hardcover

First published March 28, 2007

About the author

Matthue's book My First Kafka was called "eerie and imaginative" by The New Yorker) and "creepy cute" by Wired. He's also written a bunch of other books, most recently Rules of My Best Friend's Body. He's also written for Sesame Street, and by day he writes games for Google. He lives in Brooklyn with his family, and he keeps a secret diary at www.matthue.com.

Reviews

[Jennifer Wardrip · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reviewed by Dianna Geers for TeensReadToo.com

Strap on your seatbelts for this book--you are in for quite a ride. You will travel into the world of high society, limitless spending budgets, assistants galore -- oh, and incredible danger.

Candy is a freshman in college and has a face known by many due to her part-time modeling career. Her best friend, Velma, is from a family with so much money that often times she will fly to another country just for the afternoon. Luckily for Candy, Velma invites her along. It makes for a super-fantastic friendship.

Velma's money and connections help Candy beyond words when she begins getting stalked by a rich, spoiled, and very hot-tempered Preston. He, too, has endless amounts of money and assistants and absolutely will NOT allow Candy to not go out with him. Why would anyone not want to go out with him? He's gorgeous. He's rich. No one has ever turned him down and he's not about to let Candy say no to him.

Velma's family has more connections that Candy ever realized and they are able to help Candy escape to hidden places, dodge tracking devices, create false identities, and get her to other countries without being tracked.

Although this adventure sounds magical, it is anything but that. There is true danger, guns, explosions, and deaths.

Once you begin reading this book, you'll be off and running on this absurd, way-out-there, run-for-your-life adventure. I've never read a book quite like this one, and I'll never forget what it's like to live in the high society world of Candy and Velma.

[ABC Group · Rating 4 out of 5]

I honestly bought this book b/c of the cover. I like a couple of books on the Soft Skull imprint and this was a great buy. This is not something I'd normally read, definitely more of a teen thriller/action sorta book. This could easily be made into an action movie.

Coping with popularity, beauty and celebrity status, from a teen/college age point of view, may seem a bit trite but honestly, this book works well. Let your inner class warrior go and enjoy a funny page turner.

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

The review said 'Gossip Girl meets Spy Kids' and i'm not going to disagree with that, despite not being able to sit through an episode of GG. Sure it's chick lit written for a teen market but what girl doesn't want to be a kung fu model? The premise is silly but utterly absorbing. I sat and read the whole thing in a day and would do it again in a heartbeat.

[C.A. · Rating 5 out of 5]

CANDY IS FRICKEN COOL!

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

matthue roth knows a heck of a lot more about women's fashion than i probably ever will. this was an enjoyable read, but there wasn't much about it that left a lasting impression. offers decidedly more than typical chicklit in that the message resonates, the conflict has some roots in reality. the idea of women being able to fight back against their potential attackers is a pretty empowering one, although i wish they would be able to do it without the aid of secret agents and private jets. get your hands on the soundtrack if you can.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not sure why I didn't like this book as much as Roth's other YA novels, but I think it has to do with the plot essentially amounting to a couple hundred pages of attempted rape with a happy ending that results in the heroine becoming a contract killer for the mob.