A Review of 'Happyface' by Stephen Emond

"Cute girls dig him.  He even has his own fanclub.  But he wasn't always this awesome.  He used  to be Mr. Comic Book, a resident of Lonelyland.  So when he switched schools, he slapped on a grin and went from big nerd to big shot.  Meet Happface.  This is his story."

'Happyface' is a novel with pictures, so there will be some comments on both the writing and the art as well.  Now, on to the review!

The art was amazing and there was quite a variety within the covers.  There were cartoons, there were life drawings (as in, they were realistic and very detailed), there were scrawls (as in, you could tell what the pictures were, but it wasn't necessarily a time-consuming project).  And it all really worked together.  It helped the story to flow and if you feel like you missed something, you're bound to be caught up.

The language was like that of your average teenager, as Happyface was.  It was easy to read through and I don't remember ever stumbling over any new words or feeling like this was a huge undertaking of a read.

The characters could easily be you or me or one of our friends.  Of course there were a few stereotypes, but name a book where there isn't one to make a point.  Despite the stereotypes, each of the characters were different from the one next to them and when they came together, there were always interesting scenes.

This book is quite relatable becauase it deals with fitting in and reconstructing yourself when you come to a new place.  I know that when I went to high school, that was almost all that my eighth grade class was talking about: changing themselves, straightening out... did that happen to a lot of people that I used to know?  Of course not.  Because changing yourself and putting your past in the shadows is a hard thing to do, especially if you're comfortable with who you are.  Also, it's just easier not to change, because you're so used to being who you have been, whether you like it or not.

This was a very enjoyable read, made even more real because of the integrated art work.  It's keeps you thinking, but not on a very deep level, so it's good for light reading.

I give 'Happyface':

Thanks for reading!

--Jude