San Francisco, California - 1983

Fourteen year-old Candace Ong lives in the Chinatown section of San Francisco with her younger brother and her parents who own and operate a Chinese restaurant called Eggroll Wonderland. But Candace can’t stand her life. She hates being Chinese and working alongside her parents making wontons and eggrolls. Candace doesn’t want to have to work for the rest of her life waiting tables and cooking in the back kitchen just as her parents are doing. Candace wants something more; she just has to find out what it may be.

Candace daydreams of a better life and wants to go by the cooler name of Candy O. She loves pop music, Pop Rocks candy, and retro t-shirts. Lately Candace has been antsy, perhaps from the growing pains of being a teenager, but especially with the feelings she has had lately about boys and sex. Her best friend Ruby has quite the reputation with the boys in the neighborhood. Candace thinks it is because Ruby has a big chest and is not afraid of going all the way with a boy even though she is the same age as Candace. But Candace can hardly stand Ruby anymore. Ruby likes to put her down, call her fat and leave Candace when Ruby finds a boy to go off with and have a little fun. Candace doesn’t have many other friends so she walks the streets or goes to Pier 39 for fun. Soon Candace is meeting some interesting people, including some boys she would love to be with like Ruby.

There’s Andrew who is somewhat of a first boyfriend for Candace. He wants to have sex with her, and even though she enjoys his kisses, Candace is not sure if she is ready for that. Plus, Andrew runs hot and cold, and when Candace finds out that he has been playing around with Ruby on the side, Candace is heartbroken. But, there are other boys out there to introduce her to the joys of sex, and now she is on the lookout for the right one to make her a true woman. But Ruby is always in the background, making sure Candace is always last and the least liked. Candace wishes Ruby were dead, and then her wish becomes a reality.

Now Candace has to live with the guilt that she may have killed her former best friend. And what can she do when the ghost of Ruby starts to haunt her? And will Candace ever be able to give up the stuffed animals she loves and keep her pet hamster alive? So much responsibility for poor Candy O!

I WANT CANDY reads like a young adult novel especially with Candace, and her fourteen-year-old style antics, but Kim Wong Keltner’s coming of age saga is very much an adult read. There are disturbing scenes of sex with underage teens, the bulk of them with Ruby, and told in explicit detail. This Lolita type story is shocking in some ways, but very telling, especially from a lonely young girl’s point of view.

I saw Candace as a girl on the brink of womanhood and having no one to turn to for advice. Her parents are indifferent and only care about work. Candace finds herself in dangerous situations that no teenager or woman should find herself in. Her journey for love and acceptance is very sad, but Candace’s point of view is very interesting, along with some of the people she meets on her journey. There is Fred, an older man who is a bit too friendly with the kids in the neighborhood, and Albert, who works in a record store and happens to be gay. The language Candace uses is shocking, from her crude cursing to her explanation of her situations and the people she comes in contact with.

I WANT CANDY is not a book for everyone. There are points of humor but also of despair and a future that is unknown for Candace. By the time summer ends, Candace is ready to move on to high school and her experiences are ones that I wouldn’t want to find myself in, but I do feel a lesson was learned. Shocking, crude, yet very eye opening, Kim Wong Keltner has written an out of-the-box book that should make some heads turn and discussions to be held.

Kate Garrabrant