What do you think?
Rate this book
Convict's Candy
CONVICT'S CANDY is based on a teen-aged, pre-op transsexual named Candy, who gets arrested and sent to federal prison exactly one week before her scheduled sex-change operation. Still having male organs, Candy is housed with strong, masculine, handsome male inmates who haven't been around or touched a woman in years. Candy soon finds herself being caught in several love affairs with men with families, girlfriends and wives at home―waiting for them to be released. But Candy doesn't kiss and tell; she understands the code of what happens in prison stays in prison... .
CONVICT'S CANDY deals with sexual identity, prostitution and homosexuality within the prison system, the interactions and relationships between the inmates and officers, infidelity and most importantly, explains how the HIV virus spreads rampantly within the prison. It also reveals how the dangerous and deadly disease is transmitted within society, when infected inmates are released to go home.
CONVICT'S CANDY deals with sexual identity, prostitution and homosexuality within the prison system, the interactions and relationships between the inmates and officers, infidelity and most importantly, explains how the HIV virus spreads rampantly within the prison. It also reveals how the dangerous and deadly disease is transmitted within society, when infected inmates are released to go home.
304 pages, Paperback
First published February 1, 2006
18 people are currently reading
800 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 37 reviews
June 17, 2012
I am completely baffled by all the 5-star reviews, I mean are we all on the same page (pun intended) here?! After hearing several of my friends rave about this novel I decided to pick it up, used, from Amazon. What a waste of money! Nearly 75% of the book is "GHETTOHEAT" this, poorly written sentences and misspellings! I am a HUGE grammar freak and this book literally made my eye twitch. I could barely relax and embrace the story before another typo whopped me in the head. The grammar was so bad that I wanted to stop reading the book all together but I have never started a book and not finished so I plowed through. Even if I were able to put aside my feelings on the editing, the blatant advertising and self-promotion coupled with the occasional gay bashing and homophobia would be enough to turn me away. Parts of this book are so graphic that they read like an erotic novel but the authors are so adamant in their rejection of homosexuality that it comes off as a case of "They doth protest TOO much." Overall I wouldn't read this book again and I could only recommend it to an Anti-English class. A great message lost in cliches, poor writing, poor editing and poor taste.
August 9, 2008
Man In the Mirror
Young Candy Sweets, a male, feels that he was born to be a female and he is determined to take all the necessary steps to become one. She loses family and friends throughout his journey and a special boyfriend. Unfortunately, Candy gets involved with the wrong crowd and soon finds herself behinds scams to financially support her high-profile lifestyle. The good life runs out and Candy is sentence to prison for her crimes. Is this a place for a person in Candy's shoes? Will she survive?
"Convict's Candy" was an exciting novel chronicling a young teenaged transsexual - Candy Sweets, and his journey. This was definitely a good book for women to educate themselves with incarcerated men. I believe this is a subject that everyone should know about because it is the cause to #1 killer in the African American communities - AIDS. I will recommend this book to all and look forward to more of Damon "Amin" Meadows and Jason Poole's books in the future.
Reviewed by: Tekisha
Young Candy Sweets, a male, feels that he was born to be a female and he is determined to take all the necessary steps to become one. She loses family and friends throughout his journey and a special boyfriend. Unfortunately, Candy gets involved with the wrong crowd and soon finds herself behinds scams to financially support her high-profile lifestyle. The good life runs out and Candy is sentence to prison for her crimes. Is this a place for a person in Candy's shoes? Will she survive?
"Convict's Candy" was an exciting novel chronicling a young teenaged transsexual - Candy Sweets, and his journey. This was definitely a good book for women to educate themselves with incarcerated men. I believe this is a subject that everyone should know about because it is the cause to #1 killer in the African American communities - AIDS. I will recommend this book to all and look forward to more of Damon "Amin" Meadows and Jason Poole's books in the future.
Reviewed by: Tekisha
November 10, 2009
**11/08- Everyone keeps saying how "real" this book is. I'm nowhere near finished yet but I have some problems with that. These are "little" things for sure but don't the little things make up the big things? And aren't the little things just as important? Well, to me they are.
Problem #1- I'm fairly positive that somewhere in my travels I'm consumed gin, Ectasy, and Oxy's all together. (I'm aware of all people having different reactions to drugs but hear me out here.....) I don't remember (and I think I would have had this happen...) being "sent into a galaxy of Milky Ways." Not do I remember the "freeway being no longer visible", "not needing any lights", or my destination turning into outerspace. Lastly, My vehicle did NOT "change into a space ship".
And again, I'm well aware different people have different reactions to different things. I consider myself fairly 'in the know' here and sorry....can't happen. NOT REAL.
When Terry goes up in a ball of fire they mentioned this on BET News? Since when did BET News start mentioning the deaths of lowly not celebs? I missed that. NOT REAL.
(I haven't even started in with the mistakes yet - every street name and name like 'Balenciaga' is in italics - for some unknown reason. Whoever "edited" the book loves commas with a passion....
I'm sure I'll find more before I'm done... stay tuned....
Okay, I'm finished the book. It was horrible and the biggest shame is that the story could have been a good one. There were numerous things that made this book on of the suckiest I've ever read. One being that an author should never put themselves in their own book. Especially not repeatedly as was the case with this. It's weird and there is no need for it.
Italics are meant to be used sparingly. They are not meant to be used four times in one sentence for no reason at all. That is annoying and it gives me a headache.
Every curse word, almost every persons name, every city, town state and street was in italics. Why?
Why were there so many spelling, grammatical, and punctuation errors? If I wrote a book right now, my first rough draft would have looked immensely better than this finished copy. We all make mistakes. But if I'm putting a book out there that had my NAME attached to it I'd like it to be my very best. Apparently Meadows and Poole don't feel the same way. You don't even have to be the most intelligent person in the world either - the mistakes in this book, and you can find many on any page. Pick any page at random and I can pick out mistakes after mistakes after mistake.
If I see a girl running down the street and I tell the person next to me I wouldn't say "A girl had run down the street." I'd say something to the effect of "A girl IS running down the street."
Now that has nothing to do with intelligence, slang, or anything else. This is something that is picked up before entering even preschool. If I read half of the sentences in this book out loud to my four-year-old she's be able to correct me. And, as far as I know, she's the average four-year-old and not a genious.
Little things too - I keep hearing how this book is "so true" and "real" and "this is the real deal in the streets and jail". What the hell ever. Half of the conversations and sexual encounters related in this book seemed to occur at a club or a private home. Anal sex where the people are screaming and yelling? Um, were the guards just out to tea? I may be wrong about this one but I was under the impression that an inmate could not have a thousand dollars in their commisary at one time. I thought the limit was much, much lower - but like I said, I could be wrong about that.
Is a "whelp" the same this as a "welt"? This is my first encounter with someone getting a "whelp" so I don't know.
Direct quote here: "Candy then jumped in front of the window in her cell, and had pierced her eyes up-and-down the enpty cellblock."
Well damn. She pierced her eye huh?
Direct quote here also: "Dewayne had become so caught up in the pleasure of sex, that he hadn't noticed the ripped, semen-filled glove that had popped off his meat, which at that point, had haphazardly hung over Dewayne's scrotum sack-glove having droplets of blood on it."
(I know most people will have a hard time believing that's a quote but it is - trust me - page 232 last paragraph. Not only is it so poorly written that it's actually laughable but good old Dewayne must have a rather large scrotum sack AND an awfully small penise. For a condom to pop off and fly UNDER his penis to read on his balls? Hmmmmm. And I distinctly remember the page before saying he had a good ten inches. Another hmmmmmmm....
Direct quote: "Cachew, cachew, - c-o-u-u-u-g-h!" Has anyone actually coughed and the cough come out sounding like "cough"? Holy shit.
The last almost quarter of the book are excerpts from other Ghettoheat books. The only one that seemed even half decent was a book by Mika Miller titled ' And God Created Woman'. Every single other one, and they are numerous, seemed just as horrible as this. Some even had the twenty-hundred italicized words.
Direct quote again: "Aunt, Joyce". A damm pigeon would know a comma doesn't go there. There is no time and no reason for a comma to EVER go there.
Lastly, I've lost a great deal of respect for Wahida Clark and Treasure Blue. That pains me to say because they are both great writers and both are two of my favorite urban-lit authors. BUT...... again, they pride themselves on being so "real". Yet they say and allow quotes to be used saying how great this book is. Maybe if they were talking about the story alone, okay. But are we forgetting everything I mentioned above? And I sure did leave a lot out - my fingers are tired. If they are so "real" they should have been honest. I've read enough books by both authors to know that they are intelligent enough for these mistakes to glare at them. So, what did they do? They said how this is a great book and didn't mention anything else? How about keeping your mouth closed if you don't want to be honest? That way you can keep your dignity at least?
Treasure Blue said something I actually agree with - although I mean something far different:
"....Convict's Candy left me speechless!" - Treasure E. Blue
Yeah, it left me speechless too Treasure.
Last night I wanted to give away every single urban fiction book I own. I'm tired of the mistakes. I'm tired of the headaches I get trying to plow through a novel written by what seems like a third grader. I'm tired of having a really great story in my hands that is beyond messed up because of the fact there was no editor. I have yet to come across another genre that shuns editors like urban fiction.
Hopefully this will change.
Problem #1- I'm fairly positive that somewhere in my travels I'm consumed gin, Ectasy, and Oxy's all together. (I'm aware of all people having different reactions to drugs but hear me out here.....) I don't remember (and I think I would have had this happen...) being "sent into a galaxy of Milky Ways." Not do I remember the "freeway being no longer visible", "not needing any lights", or my destination turning into outerspace. Lastly, My vehicle did NOT "change into a space ship".
And again, I'm well aware different people have different reactions to different things. I consider myself fairly 'in the know' here and sorry....can't happen. NOT REAL.
When Terry goes up in a ball of fire they mentioned this on BET News? Since when did BET News start mentioning the deaths of lowly not celebs? I missed that. NOT REAL.
(I haven't even started in with the mistakes yet - every street name and name like 'Balenciaga' is in italics - for some unknown reason. Whoever "edited" the book loves commas with a passion....
I'm sure I'll find more before I'm done... stay tuned....
Okay, I'm finished the book. It was horrible and the biggest shame is that the story could have been a good one. There were numerous things that made this book on of the suckiest I've ever read. One being that an author should never put themselves in their own book. Especially not repeatedly as was the case with this. It's weird and there is no need for it.
Italics are meant to be used sparingly. They are not meant to be used four times in one sentence for no reason at all. That is annoying and it gives me a headache.
Every curse word, almost every persons name, every city, town state and street was in italics. Why?
Why were there so many spelling, grammatical, and punctuation errors? If I wrote a book right now, my first rough draft would have looked immensely better than this finished copy. We all make mistakes. But if I'm putting a book out there that had my NAME attached to it I'd like it to be my very best. Apparently Meadows and Poole don't feel the same way. You don't even have to be the most intelligent person in the world either - the mistakes in this book, and you can find many on any page. Pick any page at random and I can pick out mistakes after mistakes after mistake.
If I see a girl running down the street and I tell the person next to me I wouldn't say "A girl had run down the street." I'd say something to the effect of "A girl IS running down the street."
Now that has nothing to do with intelligence, slang, or anything else. This is something that is picked up before entering even preschool. If I read half of the sentences in this book out loud to my four-year-old she's be able to correct me. And, as far as I know, she's the average four-year-old and not a genious.
Little things too - I keep hearing how this book is "so true" and "real" and "this is the real deal in the streets and jail". What the hell ever. Half of the conversations and sexual encounters related in this book seemed to occur at a club or a private home. Anal sex where the people are screaming and yelling? Um, were the guards just out to tea? I may be wrong about this one but I was under the impression that an inmate could not have a thousand dollars in their commisary at one time. I thought the limit was much, much lower - but like I said, I could be wrong about that.
Is a "whelp" the same this as a "welt"? This is my first encounter with someone getting a "whelp" so I don't know.
Direct quote here: "Candy then jumped in front of the window in her cell, and had pierced her eyes up-and-down the enpty cellblock."
Well damn. She pierced her eye huh?
Direct quote here also: "Dewayne had become so caught up in the pleasure of sex, that he hadn't noticed the ripped, semen-filled glove that had popped off his meat, which at that point, had haphazardly hung over Dewayne's scrotum sack-glove having droplets of blood on it."
(I know most people will have a hard time believing that's a quote but it is - trust me - page 232 last paragraph. Not only is it so poorly written that it's actually laughable but good old Dewayne must have a rather large scrotum sack AND an awfully small penise. For a condom to pop off and fly UNDER his penis to read on his balls? Hmmmmm. And I distinctly remember the page before saying he had a good ten inches. Another hmmmmmmm....
Direct quote: "Cachew, cachew, - c-o-u-u-u-g-h!" Has anyone actually coughed and the cough come out sounding like "cough"? Holy shit.
The last almost quarter of the book are excerpts from other Ghettoheat books. The only one that seemed even half decent was a book by Mika Miller titled ' And God Created Woman'. Every single other one, and they are numerous, seemed just as horrible as this. Some even had the twenty-hundred italicized words.
Direct quote again: "Aunt, Joyce". A damm pigeon would know a comma doesn't go there. There is no time and no reason for a comma to EVER go there.
Lastly, I've lost a great deal of respect for Wahida Clark and Treasure Blue. That pains me to say because they are both great writers and both are two of my favorite urban-lit authors. BUT...... again, they pride themselves on being so "real". Yet they say and allow quotes to be used saying how great this book is. Maybe if they were talking about the story alone, okay. But are we forgetting everything I mentioned above? And I sure did leave a lot out - my fingers are tired. If they are so "real" they should have been honest. I've read enough books by both authors to know that they are intelligent enough for these mistakes to glare at them. So, what did they do? They said how this is a great book and didn't mention anything else? How about keeping your mouth closed if you don't want to be honest? That way you can keep your dignity at least?
Treasure Blue said something I actually agree with - although I mean something far different:
"....Convict's Candy left me speechless!" - Treasure E. Blue
Yeah, it left me speechless too Treasure.
Last night I wanted to give away every single urban fiction book I own. I'm tired of the mistakes. I'm tired of the headaches I get trying to plow through a novel written by what seems like a third grader. I'm tired of having a really great story in my hands that is beyond messed up because of the fact there was no editor. I have yet to come across another genre that shuns editors like urban fiction.
Hopefully this will change.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 22, 2009
The main character in this book is Candy,
His name Candy and was treated bad by his family. Terry and Candy had a relationship & when Terry's sister found out that Terry & Candy had a relationship she said that she gonna kill Candy. So Candy & Terry moved to Florida. After that Candy's life went down hill. Candy goes to jail after she gets caught stealing credit cards & cars, after a week before her sex change. Now she's surrounded by men who hasn't been wit a women in years. Candy has multiple relationships with men in jail.
I recommend this book to alot of people who has husbands or boyfriends in jail because you never know what they have when they come out of jail. I really don't have an opinion about this book but it taught me a lesson.
[spoilers:] At the end of the book every man that had a sexual relationship with Candy ended up with AIDS some died in matter of weeks, some killed themselves and another his wife poisoned him.
His name Candy and was treated bad by his family. Terry and Candy had a relationship & when Terry's sister found out that Terry & Candy had a relationship she said that she gonna kill Candy. So Candy & Terry moved to Florida. After that Candy's life went down hill. Candy goes to jail after she gets caught stealing credit cards & cars, after a week before her sex change. Now she's surrounded by men who hasn't been wit a women in years. Candy has multiple relationships with men in jail.
I recommend this book to alot of people who has husbands or boyfriends in jail because you never know what they have when they come out of jail. I really don't have an opinion about this book but it taught me a lesson.
[spoilers:] At the end of the book every man that had a sexual relationship with Candy ended up with AIDS some died in matter of weeks, some killed themselves and another his wife poisoned him.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 12, 2009
This is a very good book. this book taught me alot on men in prison and kids growing up wanting to be hetrosexual. This book is about a boy who changed his name to candy and wsa treated bad by his famliy. He moved out with his best friend he started getting into trouble and ended up getting put out of his friends house for sleeping with her brother after that candy's life went down hill. He then found himself in jail right before his sex change. Surronded by men who have not been around a lady in years look on to Candy. This is a good book telling hoe AIDS spread by the smallest things alot of people were hurt in this book. Candy ended up having AIDS from his first lover which got it threw getting a tattoo in prison. So this book really shows why it pays to wrap it up.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 7, 2010
The concept was great however; there were a few things that bothered me about the book. First, the story was written poorly although I got the general idea, the grammar was so bad that I wanted to stop reading the book all together. Next, towards the end of the book the scenes were so graphic that I skipped some of the paragraphs just to get through the remainder of the book without being visually plagued with the sex scenes. Finally, although I appreciated how real the ending was I still felt it was too much. There was already a lot of intensity in the book and I thought the book should have ended on a lighter note. I can’t say I loved the book but I didn’t hate it either, it was average, the read would have been enhanced if it was written better.
June 26, 2011
This book was amazing. I generally do not read books in this genera but a friend suggested this book to me as a must read. I was a bit skeptical at first and really did not want to waste my time with books that I am typically not into especially when I am trying to get through hundreds of books that I am into.
I must say from page 1 first paragraph I was in. This book had no dull parts and was amazing all the way through. This book is an amazing jaw dropper and just a warning very explicit. Nothing was sugar coated in this book at all. I was really glad I stepped out and read this one.
I must say from page 1 first paragraph I was in. This book had no dull parts and was amazing all the way through. This book is an amazing jaw dropper and just a warning very explicit. Nothing was sugar coated in this book at all. I was really glad I stepped out and read this one.
January 30, 2019
Pretty good for a book that came out in 2006....the content isn't timeless but it was a solid read for two incarcerated brothers.
https://bibliophileonabudget.wordpres...
https://bibliophileonabudget.wordpres...
June 6, 2007
I was sucked in to the drama of this book, but I found parts of it homophobic.
Want to read
July 8, 2011if anyone has this book and wants to sell it...hit me up...want to make my son read this book...ie scared straight!!!
March 12, 2013
This novel made me truly understand the quote, "Great novels aren't written, they are re-written." I am still struggling to finish.
December 30, 2013
this is my first urban novel. I enjoyed it. the grammar errors shows lack of education however it makes the hood story authenticated
September 8, 2018
This is an oldie but goodie to some, but new to me. Candy is a pre-op transsexual who has been arrested for one of the many scams used to finance her surgery. While on a federally financed vacation, she decides to use her body to get what she wants. Unbeknownst to Candy, the trick was actually on her.
I learned so much about a lifestyle that was unfamiliar to me, and I applaud both authors for delivering a social issue in taste. And that ending…completely blew me away!
If you haven't read this 💎💎💎💎💎book and have an open mind, I highly recommend you do so.
I learned so much about a lifestyle that was unfamiliar to me, and I applaud both authors for delivering a social issue in taste. And that ending…completely blew me away!
If you haven't read this 💎💎💎💎💎book and have an open mind, I highly recommend you do so.
September 27, 2018
Did not like the book called Convicts Candy people get so wrap up in the life they tend to do all the wrong thing by any means necessary. People sale there soles. Some of these author get stuck in the past.
October 18, 2017
I enjoyed it
October 26, 2022
I love this book! I cried! Read this book years ago and want to reread! Read in two hours definitely a recommend
November 7, 2023
Beautiful moving story
September 26, 2024
This was an unexpected good read 🤓📚
May 29, 2025
I couldn’t put this book down, I read this book when I first got into reading. It changed my life and I feel all black woman should read this
Want to read
October 11, 2021Does anyone have this book on pdf
Read
April 11, 2011This book was about a boy named Andy who was gay and so bad wanted to be a woman . During his teenage years , Andy dreamed of everything a girl could wish for . Since Andy was still young , he had to wait till he was old enough to get boobs knitted on him , he decided to wait till he was old enough . After his 18th birthday , Andy started taking pills that would help his hard chest turn into a female's double D breast . After getting this , everything on his body started to turn into a woman's features : lips , eyes , arms , chest , butt , everything ! Everything except for a vagina .
March 17, 2015
Another reason not to read books that are recommended to me. The writing was repetitive and some of the characters were pointless. I almost feel bad because you know the writers are inmates and possibly il-educated but then they insert themselves into the story (for no reason at all) and talk about how they are going to make the story you are reading into a book. Why?
I ended up skimming the last few chapters just so I could know what happens in the end. Turns out it was an important message. I just didn't care by the time I got there, I guess.
I ended up skimming the last few chapters just so I could know what happens in the end. Turns out it was an important message. I just didn't care by the time I got there, I guess.
September 11, 2014
I started this book last year and put it down. I was determined to finish and I finally did. My thoughts: I often had little sympathy for Candy - her shadiness was horrible at times resulting in death of others. The story is interesting in how aids can spread but that info is in the wrapup although one can see through out the book what can happen.
January 1, 2019
Loved the book,love the two black Muslim brothers doin there thing.... little better grammatically can be used but everything else is dope....if you never been in the environment in which these men speak on you won't get it....you have to have had a experience or no someone who has you will be lost and think it's just a book....but it's life of homosexual
August 23, 2008
I learned what really goes on behind bars and I was really shocked at what I read. This book describe every type of men us women in society needs to know about its alot of hidden secrets in this book and that's what can get you so deep into the book that's what caught my eye.
March 1, 2016
This a must read. Though it's fiction based on some true events. This book is very informative. I feel that everyone should read it.
December 3, 2009
I loved this book because it shed a lot of light on what happens in prison .
January 14, 2010
i love this boook it was very powerful and it shows exactly hows homosexuals are being treated in the world today and i dont think its right.
November 21, 2010
Never knew jail was like that...wow
April 30, 2012
this book was a true i opener i enjoyed it n would recommend to anyone whose tlkin to a guy n person
Displaying 1 - 30 of 37 reviews