The Categorical Universe of Candice Phee

Candice Phee is a 13 year old girl with a very precise and literal outlook on life. Her teacher gives her class an assignment; write about your life in 26 paragraphs, one for each letter of the alphabet. While most of the class groans, Candice is overjoyed at the challenge.

As Candice works through her assignment, it becomes clear that her life is surrounded by dysfunction. Her younger sister died from cot death, shattering her parents. Her mother is recovering from breast cancer, and her father has had a massive falling out with his brother, Rich Uncle Brian, over a failed business deal. Candice is determined to find a way to bring her family back to (H is for) happiness.

She has another challenge in that her only friend, Douglas Benson show more From Another Dimension, is determined to find a way to make a quantum leap to escape his facsimile parents and return to the dimension that he says he belongs in. This basically involves jumping out of a very tall tree at exactly 6.30 pm. Candice feels obliged to attend Douglas' attempts to return, torn between worrying about him killing himself, or worrying that he will actually succeed and she will lose a friend.

This is a very funny book with a singular narrative voice. As an effective combination of both outward humour and underlying seriousness, it rivals Me and Earl and the Dying Girl. From me, that's very high praise. show less

Candice Phee is autistic. She lacks certain social skills that enable her to make and maintain “normal” friendships. However, when she tells her friend’s mother that she isn’t autistic, the mother asks, “Then what are you?” She replies, “I’m me.”

And she is. She is also brutally honest, painfully literal, and fastidiously observant. These characteristics serve her well when completing her English assignment to write something about her that happened in the past, one paragraph for every letter of the alphabet. Twenty-six paragraphs turn into a book, in which she makes it her mission to ensure that those around her are happy. So, she attempts to help her friend Douglas Benson from Another Dimension get back to his own show more dimension, and she concocts a scheme to bring her father and his estranged brother back to together. Add to that the need to have her mother stop drowning in sorrow from having lost a child several years ago, and you’ve got one busy girl.

This award-winning Australian novel is a gem in the world of children’s literature. You will root for Candice, grieve for her parents, and appreciate Douglas’ seriousness. I adored this book, and so will you. This would make a great read-aloud with middle grade students.

Note: This review was written from an advance uncorrected proof, supplied by Chronicle Books, via The LibraryThing Early Reviewers program. A Common Core-Aligned Teachers’ Guide is available on the publisher’s website. show less

The Categorical Universe of Candice Phee by Barry Jonsberg

She's precocious and precise. She's only 12 years old, but one thing I liked about Candice was her attention to detail. Early on, I questioned Candice's use of words that seemed beyond her years. Yet a little further into the tale, the reader learns that Candice's favorite book is the dictionary. She studies it A to Z. So when given an assignment as written on the board, "ESSAY: Write about something that happened to you in the past." Candice is in her element since there must be a paragraph (she writes a whole chapter) for every letter. This gives a clever, and categorical, plot device with each chapter's title being a letter of the alphabet, twenty-six in all, A to Z.

Candice's show more story, however, isn't just about what's happened to her in the past--the loss of a baby sister--but how she hopes to heal those in her universe. There's her parents, who're loving to her but spend most of their time in different parts of the house. And there's Rich Uncle Brian (RUB), an interesting acronym, think Shakespeare. Her uncle indulges Candice but has some former business partnership riff with Candice's father, his brother. And then there's Candice's best friend, Douglas Benson From Another Dimension. The reason for Douglas' long name is that her science-nerd friend claims--though Candice doubts its truth--to have landed on earth from another reality. Even so, Douglas loves Candice, yet he still wants to go back from whence he came.

Because Candice cares so deeply about those in her universe, you can't help but care for her. How she goes about trying to fix her family and come up with a plan to reconcile her father and his brother, and all the while thinking of a way to help Douglas get back to his proper dimension, will tickle your funny bone. Candice Phee's universe is a wonderfully humorous and delightful place for any reader to go. I highly recommend it. show less

Some people label Candice as being "on the spectrum", but she just knows she's different. She takes things literally, her pet fish is having a religious crisis, and her best friend is from another dimension (maybe). On top of all that, her family is falling apart and she's the only one who can save it. Well, with a little help from her dad's estranged brother, Rich Uncle Brian.

I don't usually go for middle reader books (I didn't realize that's what it was when I requested it), but I really enjoyed this one! Jonsberg has written a witty kids book featuring a lovable, quirky character that's a little out there, but still relatable. It was an entertaining read as an adult, and I definitely would've felt the same as a kid! Go ahead and pick show more this one up. show less

Only a short time after Boo, I read another ARC about a quirky kid. Candice isn't in thirteen year old American heaven like Boo is, but she is in Australia, which even knowing a fair number of Australians outside of Australia, as well as non-Australians who have been to Australia, I'm not completely convinced actually exists. Sort of like thirteen year old American heaven. Australia ... phsaw.

So, The Categorical Universe of Candice Phee is a middle-grade novel (the back suggests "ages 10 + up"), so I read it out loud to my six year old, because six, ten, same thing, right? Quality bonding time plus moving down my ARC pile (sorry it took me a year to read your ARC book Barry Jonsberg).

The book is a diary-style format, twenty-six show more chapters, each lettered in order of the alphabet. Candice is unorthodox in a completely adorable way, just doing her own things, thinking her thoughts, not super concerned about not fitting in. She has her goldfish and her family and friends who don't know they're her friends yet. There's the standard traditional middle-grade novel tropes (think like 1980s before all the books were about dystopian vampires competing in elaborate televised games using magic to save their alternative society): a gentle love story, a bully overcome by the power of kindness, the tween's chaotic maneuverings saving the day/her parents' marriage/her father's company/etc. It's a nice change to have an optimistic book for younger readers that isn't saccharine or formulaic or made more to sell swag than stories. Sometimes YA et al. is just so unremittingly dour.

Not to say that we're running through a marigold pony unicorn rainbow field of marshmallows with The Categorical Universe of Candice Phee. There's a lot of downers. Maybe too many downers (SIDS, depression, breast cancer, divorce, familial strife, bullying, inter-dimensional travel and its consequences). Many of the downers seem more like scaffolding to the story (SIDS and breast cancer mainly). It's strong enough to stand on its own without them. People don't necessarily need a reason to be depressed. Sometimes people just are.

"Will there be a sequel?" my six year old asked as we finished it. So that's a big thumbs up from her.

The Categorical Universe of Candice Phee by Barry Jonsberg went on sale September 9, 2014.

I received a copy free from Librarything in exchange for an honest review. show less

Thanks to LibraryThing for the uncorrected advance proof of “The Categorical Universe of Candice Phee." I found this book refreshing as it is unlike any other book I've read. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it and found the main character charming. I think with the main character having such a different approach to things it encourages the reader to open their mind. I would certainly recommend it.

How much you like this will depend on how well you can suspend disbelief. ?�Just because Candice reads the dictionary does not mean she can be this articulate. ?áEspecially given the, erm, 'interesting' things going on in her life. ?áI kept getting pulled out of the story, muttering yeah, right." ?áBut at the same time I was utterly charmed and having a very good time reading it. ?áI would love more books like it, too. ?áHeck, even a sequel to this. ?áSunny, warm, but not afraid to admit that kids face challenges that we wish they wouldn't need to.

And I love the voice of Candice, even if I don't know if any child would ever talk quite like this. ?á"Mom gave the puzzled nod another airing.""