Wax by Gina Damico

"The town of Paraffin smelled of everything.
Everywhere.
At the same time. All of the time..."

Paraffin, Vermont is the home of the Grosholtz Candle Company. Because of them, the town smells like a little bit of everything all at once. There are lots of urban legends around the factory, especially about the Hollow Ones. The Hollow Ones are living people made of wax with a flame inside.

Poppy was the pride of Paraffin. She was a hit on the talent show Triple Threat until some misplaced pie and pudding en flambe took her down during a rendition of "The Hills Are Alive." She performed the song with a bleeding head wound and passed out, becoming a laughingstock instead. Now, she is the president of the Giddy Committee, a theater club, and pushing to perfect the Club's Broadway revue.

After a visit to the candle factory, Poppy encounters a strange old woman. Madam Grosholtz was the one who sculpted all the wax figures in the factory's museum, and she warns Poppy of the danger that is coming. She also offers to send someone as protection. Then there is a fire at the factory, in the older parts where Madame Grosholtz worked. She didn't make it out.

Poppy is also surprised when she opens the trunk of her car and finds a very alive, very naked wax figure of a teenage boy. Dud is a lot like a newborn baby. He doesn't understand a lot of things, and he is always learning. Poppy convinces her parents that he is a foreign exchange student that she forgot to tell them about.

Soon, Poppy has to figure out how to save the town. The factory's new owners have been making limited edition candles based on the citizens of Paraffin. Two scents are released a day, and the people each scent is based on are turned into a strange, waxen facsimile of themselves. It happens to the mayor and her son, as well as Poppy's nemesis Blake. Poppy and the Giddy Committee decide to out the revue on hold in order to defeat the wax army and save their town.

I have wanted to read one of Gina Damico's books for a while now, and I'm glad that I finally did. Wax was a lot of fun, and so incredibly funny. I loved the innocent Dud, chipper Poppy, and Poppy's sarcastic bestie Jill. Basically the entire Giddy Committee was fantastic, especially the fact that they are called the Giddy Committee. I love rhymes. If you're looking for a read that will make you laugh out loud, and don't mind some mild horror, then I would highly recommend Wax.

I received my copy of Wax from Edelweiss, courtesy of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. It's available for purchase now.