DWJ is really, really, really good at family dynamics and at the way kids think. I enjoyed this on reread - I've read it before, but probably only once, and I was mixing it up mentally with Archer's Goon. The abusive dynamics are... complicated. I don't think it would be treated so lightly or the Ogre so humanized/redeemed in a book written more recently, and I don't know how I feel about that. Would recommend reading with caution if that's a trigger.

Further thoughts: I liked the Ogre realizing on-screen that he made a mistake by lying about why and to where Sally left. I liked that it's a moment of kid(s) having valuable and smart things to say to a parent and the parent taking that criticism in and growing from it. But also the details of some of the things the Ogre actually says and does---telling Caspar something to the effect of "I wish you were gone" in front of all his fucked up drunk friends, or his total inability to do any cooking or cleaning, or letting Ginny take on this gross woman-of-the-house role---are disturbingly immature, and the realization and apology would have be a lot deeper and more pervasive. I think to go there you'd need to get more about Sally's internal life, but kids' (totally valid) inability to really understand that their parents are people and relate to them that way is one of the main themes, so it makes sense that the story *doesn't*. At least Sally gets a crack in her mask of parenthood at the very end. ( )

Every time I pick up one of Jones' novels I am transorted and enthralled by the imaginitive worlds that she creates for her readers. This novel is set is a more realistic and modern time that many of her other classics, but it is noless fantastic. Jones ignoes a spark of magic through the most mundane of objects (a children's chemistry kit) and ignotes every little boys' fantasy with the ensuing highjinx. These include animated toffee, flying, and invisibility mixed in wth all the typical domestic drama that ensues from the merging of two households with rambunctious children. Anyone in need of a highthearted escape would do well to pick up this book! ( )

As if the a newly formed family with 3 children of one parent and 2 of the other's doesn't have enough issues, add chemistry sets that change the rules of the world - but of course it does work out, not that it would, but well fiction! ( )

I loved this book as a kid and had to dig it up and re-read it. I guess it is a take on fantasia, with hundreds of sweet bars coming to life, but grounded in a living, breathing, conflicted family. ( )

A brilliant story about kids adjusting in a blended family; a magical chemistry set creates a lot of adventure and reconciles the kids. One of DWJ's best. ( )