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Summary
Summary
Just put on a happy face!
Enter Happyface's journal and get a peek into the life of a shy, artistic boy who decides to reinvent himself as a happy-go-lucky guy after he moves to a new town. See the world through his hilariously self-deprecating eyes as he learns to shed his comic-book-loving, computer-game playing ways. Join him as he makes new friends, tries to hide from his past, and ultimately learns to face the world with a genuine smile. With a fresh and funny combination of text and fully integrated art, Happyface is an original storytelling experience.
Reviews (4)
School Library Journal Review
Gr 7 Up-This journal of a teenage boy dealing with some hard realities, including his parents' divorce, his brother's death, and his own social difficulties, is written in a more serious vein but does have its humorous moments. A small handwriting font is complemented by Happyface's artwork, which range from cartoons to emotionally resonant, realistic drawings. (c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
Comic artist Emond (Emo Boy) pens an endearing and self-deprecatingly witty debut novel Ø la illustrated diary that manifests the insecurities, longings, and trials of a recognizable brand of teenage male. The narrator-an introverted, artistically talented sophomore-is trying an "everything goes" personality at his new school (he gets the nickname Happyface). The facade works. He makes a group of eclectic friends, including a possible love interest, but Happyface has skeletons in his closet: his parents' collapsed relationship, how his former crush broke his heart, and the reason he switched schools-a gruesome secret readers don't learn about until Happyface is emotionally able to write about it. Throughout, Happyface shares his grievances and hopes, but also feelings too scary to write about (illustrations come easier). By the time his sketchbook's full, readers will have a palpable sense of how much he's grown and how painful-but worthwhile-the process was. The illustrations range from comics to more fleshed-out drawings. Just like Happyface's writing, they can be whimsical, thoughtful, boyishly sarcastic, off-the-cuff, or achingly beautiful. The best exhibit hints of all of the above. Ages 12-up. (Mar.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Horn Book Review
Happyface is a cartoon-drawing, journal-keeping dorky teen boy, mooning over a girl and living in his brother's shadow. Following a tragedy that breaks up his family, Happyface is forced to confront his emotions. The book is packed with sketches and cartoons that capture with humor (some gallows-esque) the tortured nuances of adolescence, friendships, and forgiveness. Copyright 2010 of The Horn Book, Inc. All rights reserved.
Kirkus Review
Moving easily between cartoons and painterly black-and-white illustration, this epistolary novel of a young teen's reinvention of self is subtle and effective. As he's stuck in his brother's shadow and in the middle of his alcoholic parents' unhappy relationship, it's little surprise that when the breakup of his family necessitates a move to a new school, the protagonist decides to become "Happyface." Embracing lighthearted goofiness, he hopes to banish his former selfan artistic loner. At first, this seems to work: He finds friends and dates a girl on whom he has nursed a long crush. Eventually, though, he must find a way to integrate his true self with this invented persona. Poignantly real journal entries, e-mails and chat sessions allow readers to see into Happyface's world, and many will identify with his yearning for supposed normalcy. Though the catalyst for his metamorphosis is so understated that it's possible some may miss it altogether and be a bit puzzled later in the story, this is a minor detail in an otherwise engaging and absolutely heartfelt tale. (Fiction. 12 up) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.