By Corey Ann Haydu
Review by Beth Vacca
I usually leave the middle grade books to my good friend Laurie. However, when you go to a booksellers conference and you ask a publisher to recommend a book and halfway through her recommendation she begins to cry, well, you read that book. “Eventown”, by Corey Ann Haydu, is a town that accepts one new family a year. Everything is perfect. The weather. Every lawn. Every recipe that you cook, that is as long as it is from the Eventown recipe box. Eleven year old twins, Elodee and Naomi, are excited to start over in a new town. “A fresh start.” Eventown is a place you go when you are tired of life not being perfect. Where the choice is made to forget the “before” and just enjoy the “after.”
As nice and perfect as everything is Elodee just can’t seem to fit in. She asks too many questions. Yes, she likes the Eventown Anthem, but why aren’t there ever any other songs played here? Sure, she likes s’mores, but why does the fact that she would like to try what peanut butter would taste like in hers cause the whole town to become silent?
Elodee is frustrated with herself for not being able to just enjoy the perfectness of “after”. She finds herself drifting from her twin who loves not feeling sad all the time like “before.”
As with all books written for middle grades or young adults I find there are lessons that benefit everyone regardless of age. This book is a reminder that our differences are what make us unique. Special. In a generation where all kids get a trophy at the end of a soccer season we are reminded that everyone has different talents and gifts. That we are not all the same and this is a good thing. Even when we are not perfect.
We are reminded that life is messy. In a town where your ice cream cone will never melt, no matter how long you hold it, we realize that part of the fun of eating an ice cream cone is the race to the finish. That watching a gymnast perform a routine on the balance beam is exciting because we are holding our breath with anxiety and anticipation and not because we know each girl will perform the same exact routine and every one just as perfect as the last. Sometimes we want to “skip over the hard part, the boring parts, the lonely and sad and angry parts,” but we know that if we do the good and happy parts just won’t be as good and happy.
And although pain and loss hurt and we would do everything in our power to protect the ones we love from having to experience this hurt it is this pain that binds us together. It is our losses as well as our successes that draw out our true characters and form true relationships. “Sometimes you wish you could forget but you’re actually happier when you remember.” And being able to remember and talk about the past with those we love is what makes a family.
It is a must read for everyone, but if you have young children, this book is an excellent choice for a read aloud together. A story that tugs at our heartstrings as it unfolds and shows us how unfair life can be while with joyful tears we reach the conclusion that we actually wouldn’t enjoy life any other way. Here’s to getting sticky from ice cream, burnt fried chicken, falling down, getting up and peanut butter in your s’smores!
Don’t forget to read the fine print!