The Candymakers

Miles feels instantly drawn to Logan and hopes to be his friend. He feels childlike joy in the factory, but he is still anxious; he sees “death everywhere he look[s]” (140). To cope with his anxiety, he retreats to the library. He amasses a random pile of books and opens them each to random pages. He creates a message by recording random sentences from each book. He believes that “at least one of those sentences would help him in some mysterious way” (144). He is always looking for signs and meaning to counter the chaos he sees in the world around him. 

Miles and the other contestants learn how to use the factory equipment that they’ll need to make their contest entries. By the end of the day, Miles thinks about how lucky Logan is to live inside a candy factory. He thinks he understands why Logan rarely leaves: “Living here was like living inside a well-protected cocoon” (154). 

The next day, Miles and the other contestants once again commence work on their individual candies. Although Miles is afraid of bees because he saw them swarm the girl on the day she drowned, he decides that he’s going to make a candy in the shape of a bee in memory of her. Later that day, Miles and Logan have lunch together. Miles notices the pictures on the walls; there are many of when Logan was younger than five, but after the pictures “became more sporadic, maybe two a year” (167). He realizes it’s because Logan’s scars appeared after the age of five, and his parents probably didn’t want to highlight them in a photo because it might make Logan feel bad about them. This makes him feel sad for Logan, but he realizes that he and Logan are in similar positions: neither of them can undo the trauma from their pasts.

Miles stays over at Logan’s that night. He leaves Logan alone in the Tropical Room so that he can touch the chocolate fountain by himself. He realizes that someone is breaking into the Cocoa Room, so he ventures in to confront the offender. Someone pulls him down to the floor.