The Candymakers by Wendy Mass*

Twelve year old Logan who has never left his parents' candy factory, Life Is Sweet, competes in the Confectionery Associations' annual contest to create a new kind of candy.  Three other twelve year olds from his town arrive at the factory to learn the basics of candy making and to create their candy with the assistance of the factory's experts.
The four tweens develop an unlikely friendship when they realize someone is trying to sabotage the Life Is Sweet factory.
Ms. Mass slowly reveals each character's story and why he or she reacts in certain ways, disclosing a few mysteries along the way.
Grade Level Equivalent: 4.5
*Highly recommend.
-Borrowed from the library.
I will soon be reading the sequel-The Candymakers and the Great Chocolate Chase.
Strategies: predicting, inferring, check for understanding (the book is divided into each character's point of view so the reader needs to monitor, stop and check for understanding)

Points to discuss: Miles witnessed a drowning and is obsessed with the "afterlife" and what he could have done to save the girl who drowned.  Some lying occurs.