Linda Soules Releases 'So You Want To Be A Candy Scientist,' a Kids' Guide to Food Science Careers

Author Linda Soules has released So You Want To Be A Candy Scientist: A Kids' Guide to Candy Making, Food Science, Flavor Chemistry, and the Sweet-Toothed Scientists Who Invent the Treats We Can't Stop Eating, a 38-page children's nonfiction title that introduces readers ages 10 to 14 to the work of food scientists. The book is available now at https://www.amazon.com/dp/1972766597. It uses familiar sweets such as hard candy, caramel, marshmallow and chocolate to explain temperature, crystallization, acidity and color. It also covers the careers of the people who study those processes. The book has already won a Literary Titan Gold Book Award, the Grand Prize in the 2026 Purple Dragonfly Book Awards, and a Silver Award in Children's Nonfiction at the 2026 CIPA EVVY Book Awards. It is the latest entry in Soules's So You Want To Be A... career-exploration series.

Most children encounter candy every week, but few learn that its texture and flavor come from controlled chemistry. Food science rarely appears on lists of careers presented to middle-grade students, even though it combines chemistry, physics, engineering, nutrition and consumer research. Teachers and parents looking for STEM reading for this age group often find two kinds of titles: broad science surveys and narrow how-to activity books. Few connect a hands-on topic to an actual profession.

Soules's book starts from a plain observation: someone had to work out exactly how each step of candy making works. It treats that work as rigorous, and as a path a reader could follow. The book is written for curious kids, including those who have never picked up a science book. It frames each topic as a question a young reader might ask and answers it in a conversational tone rather than a textbook voice. The goal is to show that a career built around something as small and enjoyable as candy involves real scientific discipline.

The book's core chapters explain why the same sugar can turn chewy at one temperature and glass-like at another. They show how chocolate must be coaxed into a precise crystal form to produce its characteristic snap. Readers learn the chemistry behind sour candy and why cocoa butter makes chocolate the only candy designed to melt at body temperature. A section on color describes how food scientists use it to influence what the human tongue seems to taste. Each concept is tied to a candy the reader likely recognizes, so the science has an immediate reference point. The text is richly illustrated, and the visual layout is meant to make multi-step processes easier to follow for first-time science readers.

The book also profiles real pioneers in the field. It tells the story of a chemist who fought to make candy safe for children, an inventor who cracked shelf-stable milk chocolate, and a researcher who found a natural blue dye in red cabbage. Their stories give readers examples of how scientific problem-solving shaped products now taken for granted. A hands-on section then guides kids through growing rock candy at home, making edible sugar glass and running a chocolate snap test. Each activity is linked to the concepts introduced earlier. The book closes with a glossary of candy-science terms and a roadmap to next steps for readers who want to keep exploring.

Many science books for young readers choose between spectacle and substance, or between career inspiration and classroom concepts. This title combines the two. It pairs chemistry explanations with biographical profiles and with experiments readers can run in a home kitchen, so the same book covers the why, the who and the how. It does not treat candy as a gimmick. The subject is the entry point to ideas such as crystal structure, phase behavior and flavor chemistry. The text is also written to respect its audience. Soules's series philosophy is that young readers are smarter and more capable than publishing often assumes, and the book explains technical terms rather than avoiding them.

"Kids already love candy. I wanted to show them that someone had to figure out how it works, and that figuring it out is a real career," said Linda Soules, author of the So You Want To Be A... series.

The book is aimed at readers ages 10 to 14, but its uses extend beyond individual readers. Parents looking for STEM reading that starts from something a child already cares about can use it as a conversation starter at home. Teachers and librarians can use the experiments for classroom demonstrations of crystallization, sugar chemistry and the scientific method. Rock candy growing takes patience and observation. The sugar glass project shows how heating changes sugar's structure. The chocolate snap test gives students a simple comparison to run and discuss. For a child who constantly asks "why," the book offers answers and a view of the profession behind them. It also gives families a way to explore careers in food science, chemistry and product development without any lab equipment.

The recognition for the book spans both literary and category judging. It won the Literary Titan Gold Book Award, the Grand Prize in the 2026 Purple Dragonfly Book Awards, and the Silver Award in Children's Nonfiction in the 2026 CIPA EVVY Book Awards. The Purple Dragonfly program covers children's titles across many categories, and the EVVY awards are given by the Colorado Independent Publishers Association. The listing for the book notes these honors as part of the broader award record of the So You Want To Be A... series.

So You Want To Be A Candy Scientist is available now at https://www.amazon.com/dp/1972766597. The book is children's nonfiction, runs 38 pages and carries ISBN 978-1-972766-59-0. Current pricing and format options are listed on the product page. Readers who want to preview the content can use the book description on the same page, which outlines the topics, profiles and experiments included. Parents, educators and librarians seeking a copy for a classroom, library collection or home reading list can order directly from the link. Soules has not announced additional distribution channels for this title. Press and educator inquiries can be directed to the author through the contact details associated with the series.

The candy science book belongs to a series that Soules describes as a growing collection of career-exploration books for readers ages 10 to 14 and beyond. The series is envisioned to span more than 180 titles, with more than 60 published to date and new releases appearing on a steady cadence. Existing and planned subjects range from astronauts and marine biologists to magicians, stunt performers and roller coaster designers. Each title is built to pull back the curtain on a real career, covering its rewards, its challenges and the path to get there. The series approach is to give young readers a broad view of work they might never encounter at school or at home, and to leave them with a sense that the world is wider and more reachable than they imagined.

Before turning to children's publishing, Soules spent 25 years in law and finance, advising hedge funds and sophisticated financial institutions on legal and regulatory matters. She says that career taught her precision and discipline, and how to translate intricate subjects into language anyone can use. That skill set shapes her approach to the series, in which technical subject matter is explained plainly and without condescension. Her stated philosophy is that curiosity is the engine of a meaningful life. She lives in Seattle with her husband and two children, and the series draws on the questions that family life and curious young readers raise.

About Linda Soules and the So You Want To Be A... series: Linda Soules is the author and creator of the So You Want To Be A... series, a collection of career-exploration books for readers ages 10 to 14 and beyond. The series is envisioned to include more than 180 titles, with more than 60 published so far. Each book introduces a real career, from candy scientist to astronaut, with an emphasis on respecting young readers' intelligence and curiosity. Soules previously worked for 25 years in law and finance and lives in Seattle. So You Want To Be A Candy Scientist is available at https://www.amazon.com/dp/1972766597.