The main character in the book Happyface refers to himself simply as "Happyface" and this is also what all of his friends call him. Happyface is given a chance to start over when his family moves to a new town, and he takes that chance, completely remodeling who he is. He went from nerd to big shot, because, as he says," Sometimes you've got to fake it 'til you make it." This is definitely advice that Happyface follows throughout his story. His strategy to become 'cool' is to smile all the time and see if he can make friends. He starts out being quite successful, attracting the girl of his dreams. This shows Happyface's uncanny ability to poke fun at himself while he tells his story in his diary.
At first, Happyface loves his new life, making friends all over the place, and they all think he's super chill, because he shows that he is, but he soon gets too involved in some situations, and is not able to get himself out in time. Happyface soon finds into some situations uncomfortable to him, due to his lack of social experience, and soon learns that just smiling cannot solve all of his problems. Happyface feels bad for getting too involved in these people's lives so he decides to leave them alone.
But they need him!
These people realize that after all, we all do need someone in our lives that is just always happy. We all need a light in our lives to show us that it gets better, and we all have the opportunity to improve our lives in this way. Happyface has taught me this, and i now live my life in a different way because of him, and my life is better because of it. Below I have posted a link to a website that talks about Happyface and his endeavors.
Happyface
Wednesday, May 7, 2014
Happyface Author: Stephen Emond
I recently started re-reading one of my favorite books of all time: Happyface by Stephen Emond. Stephen Emond is one of my favorite authors, not only because of his writing, but because of the artwork he includes in his stories. Happyface in particular is written n a diary format, so on each diary entry, along with a date, there is a small drawing depicting what is going on in the story. But enough about Happyface, this post is about Stephen, so let's talk about Stephen.
Stephen Emond is an interesting author in the fact that he draws out the story as well as telling it. On his blog, he mentions that started out drawing comic books in middle school, and in his youth focused solely on drawing, wanting to grow up to be a comic book writer. let me tell you, though, Stephen is a fine author as well. He does indeed excel at drawing, so it's good he enjoys that, but his writing skills are superb. I admore his creative ability, while at the same time, remaining relatable. He often writes about the same kind of guy; a somewhat depressed teen who wants to turn their life around, and does it in an interesting way.
In Happyface, the main character is depressed, as I said, but moves to a new town and decides he will jus slap a smile on and try to make friends. And it works. Emond says, "Cute girls dig him. He even ha his own fan club." which perfectly describes the character. Stephen Emond findsa way to tell the same story multiple times while still keeping it fresh and modern, and the illustrations help with this. Stephen Emond now resides in Connecticut and continues writing and drawing in his daily life. A link to his website is below(aptly named, I might add), so that you may find out more about this talented young author.
http://www.stephenemond.com/about/
Stephen Emond is an interesting author in the fact that he draws out the story as well as telling it. On his blog, he mentions that started out drawing comic books in middle school, and in his youth focused solely on drawing, wanting to grow up to be a comic book writer. let me tell you, though, Stephen is a fine author as well. He does indeed excel at drawing, so it's good he enjoys that, but his writing skills are superb. I admore his creative ability, while at the same time, remaining relatable. He often writes about the same kind of guy; a somewhat depressed teen who wants to turn their life around, and does it in an interesting way.
In Happyface, the main character is depressed, as I said, but moves to a new town and decides he will jus slap a smile on and try to make friends. And it works. Emond says, "Cute girls dig him. He even ha his own fan club." which perfectly describes the character. Stephen Emond findsa way to tell the same story multiple times while still keeping it fresh and modern, and the illustrations help with this. Stephen Emond now resides in Connecticut and continues writing and drawing in his daily life. A link to his website is below(aptly named, I might add), so that you may find out more about this talented young author.
http://www.stephenemond.com/about/
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