Bottling up his grief and fear, he pastes a big smile on his face and makes a fresh start as the class clown. When horrific tragedy tears his family apart, he finds himself living in a ratty apartment with his newly sober mom and attending a new high school. I really loved this book and the idea behind it.Grade 7–10-Happyface is a shy, artistic sophomore, awkwardly coping with life from the sidelines. It’s a very fast read, perfect for older teens, especially reluctant reader boys who are trying to figure themselves out.
Because how much would you write down about something that changed your life forever? You wouldn’t need to – your life has changed, why would you have to note why? Maybe things that happened to him and around him were not everything he wrote down. Suddenly, I realized, maybe Happyface wasn’t doing as well as he said. I think this is what really drew me into the book (no pun intended). He’s not documenting his life for future generations, he’s just using this journal to sketch, to vent, to ramble…so bits of information trickles in at a random pace. But you begin to realize that pieces are missing.
When you start the book, it feels very “Dear Diary” and you assume that Happyface is just telling you everything about his life. What I think I really enjoyed about this book was Emond’s writing Happyface as an unreliable narrator. While Happyface tries to maintain a sense of humor in his new persona, the story and themes are relatively serious. Don’t be fooled, this isn’t a silly story.
We follow his journey through his notes and artwork. After having to leave his home town after his parent’s divorce, the young man decides he’s not going to be the quiet kid in the corner drawing pictures, and reinvents himself as Happyface – the happy, outgoing, cool kid. One reason is that it’s not a normal book. It’s got so many elements that you find in other young adult books, but some how Emond manages to put enough of a twist on the story that I could not put the book down. Happyface, like Whip It, is another teen story that surprised me.
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