Every winter, straight-laced, Ivy League bound Evan looks forward to a visit from Lucy, a childhood pal who moved away after her parent's divorce. But when Lucy arrives this year, she's changed. The former "girl next door" now has chopped dyed black hair, a nose stud, and a scowl. But Evan knows that somewhere beneath the Goth, "Old Lucy" still exists, and he's determined to find her... even if it means pissing her off.
Garden State meets Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist in this funny and poignant illustrated novel about opposites who fall in love.
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Praise for Happyface: * "Comic artist Emond (Emo Boy) pens an endearing and self-deprecatingly witty debut novel à la illustrated diary... Whimsical, thoughtful, boyishly sarcastic, off-the-cuff... achingly beautiful." (Publishers Weekly, starred review )
About the Author
Stephen Emond is the creator of Emo Boy, which ran for twelve issues and two collections with Slave Labor Graphics. He also won a national contest for his comic strip series Steverino, which ran for several years in his local Connecticut newspaper. His first novel, Happyface, was published in March 2010. You can find him at www.stephenemond.com.
Product Details
Age Range: 12 and up
Hardcover: 336 pages
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers; 1 edition (December 5, 2011)
Hello, my name is Stephen Emond, or just Steve if you prefer. There isn't much about that me isn't be said in this excerpt from the HAPPYFACE page on amazon.com:
About the Author Steve Emond does not have any superhuman powers, neat tricks, or famous relatives, but he's a pretty cool guy who can draw. He is the creator of Emo Boy, which ran for 12 issues and two collections, and the comic strip, Steverino. He grew up in Connecticut, where he wrote and directed a public access sketch comedy show that only his grandmother watched.
I'm pretty sure my editor on the book wrote this to mimic my sometimes self-deprecating manner because I don't remember writing it myself.
Anyway, I'm a creator, I guess you can say. I focused solely on drawing in my youth, wanting to be a comic book artist. Not so much the kind I became, I was more interested in superheroes. Starting with Spiderman, which led to the New Warriors, which led me to following Todd McFarlane, Jim Lee, the guys that wound up at Image. I was a huge Image fan until a girlfriend turned me on to indie comics, which read more like the things that went on in my head.
Another thing I drew, that fed into my later love of writing, was a comic strip called STEVERINO. I did STEVERINO from my senior year of highschool, and for about six years after. I did twenty-five page books every month, three cartoons per page, and sent them to never more than thirty people. I worked through a lot of my own neuroses in those years, but it was a lot of fun.
Feedback for Steverino was generally positive. I won a national contest, Andrew-McMeels/Follett College Store's STRIP SEARCH: DISCOVERING TOMORROW'S TOP CARTOONISTS TODAY and had my comic printed in a book of the same name. I had three or four local newspaper articles and ongoing dialogues with a few syndicate editors. There wasn't really any hook, though. It was just me and my thoughts. They liked the art, they liked the writing, they thought it was charming, but you couldn't sell it.
Eventually I had the idea for EMO BOY, which was "what if this emo kid had superpowers, but they were completely destructive and he was too emo to use them anyway?" It was a joke at first but my girlfriend at the time urged me to go on with it. I did a mini comic, ashcan style - 8 1/2X11 pages folded down the middle and xeroxed. In it, Emo Boy joins a garage band, falls for a pretty girl, kisses her and explodes her head in a fit of emo-nerves. The band is ready to beat him down when he comes up with a hit emo song about the experience.
I sent the comic to SLG Publishing, because honestly, who the heck else would publish it? About eight months after I mailed the book to SLG, I got an email from Dan Vado asking if I was still looking for a publisher. Indeed, I was! I sent him the new issues to show how the art and writing had improved, although Dan did recommend giving him the powers back, as it lent the series a feeling of suspense, not knowing what was going to happen next.
At the end of EMO BOY's 12-issue run, one fan of mine was Connie, an assistant editor at Little, Brown Books for Young Readers. She thought the tone of EMO BOY was great for a possible YA book and asked if I had any other ideas. I didn't, but I came up with EMO BOY, didn't I? There had to be something else I could think of!
I went with a darker character-piece called HAPPYFACE. The idea was that a kid suffers a terrible tragedy, puts on a happy face and swallows all the pain. With time the cracks would show and ultimately he'd explode. What exists now as HAPPYFACE has the same general concept, but is not nearly as dark and moody as I'd intended. I pictured seething rage and contempt in every page, but the biggest change came when I decided to use art in the piece.
Connie felt it was a strength that not everyone had, and we could do something to make the book really stand out. I gave it some thought, and became excited with the possibilities. I even thought it would be great to hand-write the entire thing, but that wasn't really feasible. I thought of making little doodles and writings in the margins, scribbled all over. What we ended up with was a sketchbook of sorts. It's a journal, but it's illustrated. A little of the story is told in comic form, there's realistic beautiful drawings and silly cartoony ones. I thought it showed what you really can't write. It was very personal and intimate, and it does look different from anything else.
As I was working on the early planning of Happyface, I also became involved in the EMO BOY movie. Dan was pitching Emo Boy at San Diego one summer and a few people were interested in doing a movie. The best choice for us was John Williams at Vanguard Films and Animation. John is best known for discovering SHREK and developing and bringing it to Dreamworks. They were looking to do a live action movie and Emo Boy seemed in line with what they wanted to do. In early talks, we thought of it as a quirky indie comedy in the line of HAROLD AND MAUDE or RUSHMORE. We had a lot of talks and were seeing eye to eye, so they offered me the chance to write a draft of the screenplay. For the next two years, that's what I did. I wrote HAPPYFACE and EMO BOY at the same time. I was away from the internet, away from the comics community and probably completely forgotten but I was busier than I'd ever been!
Kyle Newman of the movie FANBOYS was brought in as a director and we worked on the screenplay some more, as he infused it with some new ideas. In the end, it's very much EMO BOY from the comics. It's what the comics maybe should have been. When I wrote the individual issues, I had no plan other than to write what was funny. There was no arc planned, no major outline I was working from. With the movie, it was like every character I'd written suddenly had a purpose and a clear arc. I'd figured out why they were there. There's development now, new interactions between characters, some stuff you won't be expecting. I pray it gets made, because I'm very proud of how it came out! And having seen FANBOYS now, I can say Kyle will be perfect for this project.
Currently working on my second YA novel, with a half-dozen other ideas I'd love to do something with, but one thing at a time!
Evan and Lucy are childhood best friends. Ever since Lucy's parents split and she moved to Georgia with her mom, Evan only sees her over winter break. When Lucy shows up this winter, she's completely changed -- she's sullen and moody and rockin' a totally new goth style, and Evan just can't get her to open up. As the story unravels, their friendship is severely tested, simultaneously growing closer and breaking apart each time they hang out. I had no idea how things would end -- I just knew that I was rooting for them either way. I loved the dual boy/girl point of view; the well-drawn adult characters; and the cool music, book, and zombie references throughout. Part graphic novel, part romance, part adventure, WINTERTOWN is the perfect story for a chilly winter's night. It comes out in December, just in time to grab a mug of hot chocolate and curl up under your fave fuzzy blanket (dare I say Snuggie)!
First Impressions: I remember reading and liking Happyface by Stephen Emond when it was released a couple of years ago, so I knew I wanted to give Wintertown a try. I liked that this book was illustrated and I was kind of excited to see it in person. I did quick flip-through of the book at Barnes and Nobles before I received my copy, and it looked very promising! I also liked the fact that it has been compared to Garden State, because that is one of my favorite movies!
First 50 Pages: This book caught my attention instantaneously. I loved the illustrations! The book reminded me a lot like what you would find in a graphic novel and I think that the illustrations really helped me to visualize what was going on. I liked the fact that it gave illustrations of Lucy and Evan, and the characters were just how I pictured them while I was reading the text. I think this would be a good book for a reluctant reader or someone who struggles with reading because it has that visual effect. The illustrations combined with the story made for a very enjoyable read!
Characters & Plot: As for the plot line, it was pretty average and not exactly original. It's a story that we have all heard before, but I'm not saying that I didn't enjoy it, because I did. Evan is your typical goodie-two-shoes. He is Mr. Perfect, he volunteers, is respectful, and he is basically a nerdy kid. He is kind of a spoiled brat. Lucy used to be the same way when she and Evan were younger, but something happened. Lucy comes back to town to visit and she is completely changed. Her hair is all chopped off and is dyed, she has a nose piercing, and she is rude and very negative. She basically treats Evan like crap. But she likes him secretly. Evan on the other hand is completely convinced that something must be majorly wrong with Lucy because of the way she is acting, but he tries to get use to Lucy's new look and be the friend he has always been.
Both characters have some issues to work through, not only amongst themselves, but with their own families. I liked how Lucy urged Evan to push himself to really enjoy life and what he wanted out of it. She taught him that it is okay to take some risks in life. I think both characters were able to learn something from one another in the end. Their relationship also changes throughout the story and they do become romantically involved. What I really liked about this book was that they didn't live happily ever after. Lucy and Evan both realize that before they can really love each other, they have to love themselves first and work through all of their personal issues before committing themselves to another person.
Final Thoughts: This wasn't a life-changing story and I didn't think that it was very original. But, I loved the illustrations and the way it wove into the actual story. I liked the way the book ended and I thought the writing style was very comfortable and relaxing. I felt good after I read the book and I think that teens will definitely enjoy this one!
WINTERTOWN was a refreshing read, quite literally. I got the chance to read this in the middle of the summer and it really made me long for the winter, the cold and especially the snow. Now that the winter is soon upon us, I'm no longer longing for it. But this book was really quite good and quite interesting.
I highly enjoyed the first half of the book, almost to the point where I would've given a 4.5 or 5 star rating but then the author, Stephen Emond, changed POV's in the middle of the book and that changed my opinion of it. It was told from Evan's POV for the first half and I really became interested in this character. He's extremely intelligent, talented with his drawing and just overall a good guy. A teenager I'd imagine all parents would prefer their daughters to end up with. His biggest downfall is his best friend from childhood, Lucy. This year, she's changed. She comes back all Goth-ed up; black hair, piercings, dark clothing and bad attitude. Evan is determined to find the old Lucy and bring her back. THIS part of the book I enjoyed so much.
Then we get to the intermission...and it changes.
We are now reading the story from Lucy's POV. I'm glad only half the book was from her POV because I'm not sure I could've taken an entire book being told from her. And it was smart having her telling the story in the second half because I'm not sure I would've continued. The only good thing I found from this half of the book is we find out why Lucy has changed so drastically in the year since she last saw Evan.
So with the amazing first half and the not so great second half, my overall view of this book is good. I really enjoyed the story, much different from what I normally read. (Which, if you couldn't tell, is mainly YA Fantasy) It could've been better had we not had to read from her POV, or maybe not as much. The drawings in each chapter were definitely a bonus.
