The Candy Shop War

A fifth grader moves to a new town over the summer. He reluctantly makes friends with some neighborhood kids. He doesn't want to perform the initiation task. However, standing up to the bullies is enough, and the four kids become good friends.

Shortly after the school year starts, they visit a new candy shop in town. While it seems to be a normal candy shop at first, they soon learn that it is run by a magician that dispenses magical candy. The magician cannot leave her "lair" and candy is most effective on young children. This leads to the children gradually getting involved in a magical war. They have to figure out who is good and who is bad and work to prevent potential calamities.

Candy Shop War is the type of fantasy that I enjoy. It is set in a "real" world. (In this case a fictional "Colson, California", situated in the outer Contra Costa county suburbs of San Francisco.) The people are mostly normal people who interact with a bit of magic in their normal world. The magic has "always" been there, but most of the people don't realize that it has existed. ("White Fudge" is an addictive sweet that further helps to make adults oblivious to the presence of the magic.) The story also takes many unexpected twists and turns without becoming implausible.
The magic system is also a great one. Who would suspect magical candy that only impacts children?