Eventown

By Corey Ann Haydu

Book Overview

Kirkus Best Books of 2019 *
Kids' Indie Next Pick List * Bookpage Best Books of 2019: Middle Grade

"Beautiful, mysterious and deeply satisfying." --Rebecca Stead,
Newbery Medal-winning author of When You
Reach Me and Goodbye Stranger
The
world tilted for Elodee this year, and now it's impossible for her to be the
same as she was before. Not when her feelings have such a strong grip on her
heart. Not when she and her twin sister, Naomi, seem to be drifting apart. So
when Elodee's mom gets a new job in Eventown, moving seems like it might just
fix everything.
Indeed,
life in Eventown is comforting and exciting all at once. Their kitchen comes
with a box of recipes for Elodee to try. Everyone takes the scenic way to
school or work--past rows of rosebushes and unexpected waterfalls. On
blueberry-picking field trips, every berry is perfectly ripe.
Sure,
there are a few odd rules, and the houses all look exactly alike, but it's easy
enough to explain--until Elodee realizes that there are only three ice cream
flavors in Eventown. Ever. And they play only one song in music class.
Everything may be "even" in Eventown, but is there a price to pay for
perfection--and pretending?
"Engrossing." --New York Times Book Review
"Enchanting, heart-rending, and bittersweet." --Kirkus
Reviews (starred review)
"An emotionally complex and wonderfully told story." --School
Library Journal (starred review)

"Thought-provoking." --Publishers Weekly
(starred review)

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0062689800
• ISBN13: 9780062689801
• Release Date: February 2019
• Publisher: Quill Tree Books
• Length: 336 Pages
• Weight: 0.95 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.3" x 5.9" x 8.3"
• Age Range: 8 to 12 years
• Grade Range: Grades 3 to 7

Customer Reviews

The Gras might be greener on the other side, but life is sweeter when bitter exists too

I LOVED this book. It's actually one of my son's top 5 books and he's begged me to re-read it to him. He's 11 and we still read each night and had just finished Some Kind of Happiness and he loved, and this was suggested based on that. It's a great story about how being perfect doesn't feel perfect, and a life without sorrow or hardship isn't all its cracked up to be. It creatively teaches the reader to love and embrace their uniqueness and flaws but also cope with grief as well. Apparently some people think the subject of loss is not appropriate for 8-12 year olds but I would disagree. It's handled well in the book and children experience loss too and they deserve stories where people don't create absurd metaphors to tackle the topic but are honest. Our kids deserve that and mine really appreciated that. Anyway, excellent book I'm buying it for our forever library because my kid loves it so much

Parents, read this before your child does. The plot is arguably manipulative, the sensitive subject

First, I believe in giving kids age-appropriate knowledge to help prepare them for the harsh realities of life, and I think Haydu’s writing is generally constructive in this aim. However, I don’t think she handled her subject well in this book, and wish I hadn’t read this to my 8-year-old. That is my fault, I acknowledge, but I doubt most in the 8-12 year age range are ready for this book. For my family, we really didn’t enjoy the style of writing, and my kids were really only invested in finding out the hinted-at twist, which provides almost all of the main character’s motivation, and which in this first-person narrative really should have been revealed early on. Instead, it was teased out until near the end in what felt manipulative, exploitative and ultimately very insensitive to anyone who has any experience with this trauma. When we finally learned the cause for the characters’ trauma, it was extremely jarring and distressing. I had guessed the twist by that point, but I kept going, naively certain a book meant for 8-12 year olds wouldn’t use such an awful event to string them along. Or that IF it did, surely the author would make it up to us by handling it with sensitivity and care, in a way that helps the audience. NOPE. It was wrenching, and I HIGHLY doubt in a way that is constructive. If any subject ought to be handled carefully, it is this one. Without saying what it is (though you’ve probably guessed) social scientists have shown that how we share information and news around this phenomenon can, done poorly, greatly increase its prevalence. Before you or your kids read this, be sure you’re prepared!