Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:
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)
To Elodee, eleven, things seem a little too perfect in Eventown when she moves there with her parents and identical twin, Naomi, especially since forgetting the past is so highly valued.
740 Lexile.
Accelerated Reader MG 4.6 10.0 501031.
Reviews provided by Syndetics
Publishers Weekly Review
In this thought-provoking novel, 11-year-old twin and experimental cook Elodee and her family leave behind an undefined sorrow for a new start in utopian Eventown, which eschews television, cars, and the internet; where everyone lives in identical houses; and where the air tastes like blueberries. Upon arrival, newcomers must visit the Welcoming Center to tell six critical stories-their most intense experiences of fear, embarrassment, anger, loneliness, joy, and heartbreak. An interruption in Elodee's storytelling leaves her with her memories intact, whereas her twin Naomi can no longer remember her told memories from their past life and revels in the placid conformity of the town, with its library of blank books and single song: the "Eventown Anthem." As the twins grow apart, Haydu (Rules for Stealing Stars) sketches the sinister underpinnings of this seemingly perfect place, especially its pressure to conform in all things-even baking without a recipe or planting a treasured rose veers from the town's established (and always perfect) order. Ultimately, this memorable and brave heroine chooses sometimes painful stories, memories, and love in favor of a sanitized perfection. Ages 8-12. Agent: Victoria Marini, Irene Goodman Agency. (Feb.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
School Library Journal Review
Gr 5-7-What would you give up to always be content, to never experience grief or intense anger? Would you give up choice, variety, creativity, joy? These are exactly the questions addressed when Elodee and her twin sister Naomi move with their parents to Eventown in order to get a fresh start in their lives. The family has experienced something terrible-an unknown event from which they have not been able to recover. All of that changes upon the family's arrival in their new town. It is quite literally a place where the sun always shines. There are no cars needed in Eventown since everyone bikes, the neighbors are friendly, and their new school is pleasant. Her parents are happy, as if the strain on them has been lifted, and her sister fits in like a glove. Elodee is only one who feels a distant strangeness, as if it is all a little too pleasant. Elodee begins to question her "perfect" new home. She notices that all the houses look exactly the same, the library is filled with blank books, and the ice cream shop only serves three flavors. Elodee must being to unravel her family's past in order to figure out what's missing and find true emotional closure for all of them. -VERDICT An emotionally complex and wonderfully told story that will capture tween readers.-Patricia Feriano, Montgomery County Public Schools, MD © Copyright 2018. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Booklist Review
A family recovering from tragedy moves to Eventown, an idyllic place where happiness has a dark side, in Haydu's latest. Elodee's family is excited to get a new start in Eventown, away from the sad memories surrounding an event they never talk about. Everything seems perfect in Eventown the place smells like roses and has the best ice-cream, and everyone is happy. But soon Elodee realizes she doesn't fit in like her parents and her twin sister, Naomi, do. Elodee wants to question why the books in Eventown have no words and why each resident is asked to tell their most difficult memories but then can't remember them. With a growing understanding that happiness and love cannot be separated from messiness and pain, Elodee fights to bring her family's most difficult memory to the surface. Readers will feel for the brave, unconventional Elodee, who both affirms her individuality but also feels the loneliness of it. Heavy themes of depression and repression mix with hints of renewal. A hope-tinged tale about the long aftermath of tragedy.--Mariko Turk Copyright 2018 Booklist
Horn Book Review
Elodee's family moves to Eventown, hoping for a fresh start away from a tragedy they don't discuss. At first, everyone in Eventown seems happy. But when Elodee figures out that residents have "forgotten" their bad memories, she must confront her family's own repressed tragedy. Haydu writes about loss, depression, and the messiness of healing with sympathy and hope. (c) Copyright 2021. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Book Review
Does perfection mean the erasure of all pain? Elodee wonders.Elodee's family needs a fresh start; everyone says so. The Lively family relocates to Eventown, a planned utopia where there's no internet, TV, or cars, and all the houses look the same. Fifth-grader Elodee can't wait to bake, while her identical twin sister, Naomi, looks forward to gymnastics. Part mystery, part fabulism, with a dash of dystopia, this story is as layered and delicious as one of Elodee's concoctions. In the preteen's narration, readers immediately see the town's appeal. Who could resist a special, personalized event in Eventown's Welcoming Center? After telling your storiesthe scariest, most embarrassing, most heartbreaking, loneliest, angriest, and most joyfulyour memories are locked away, freeing you for the happiness of Eventown. Reluctant to give away all her stories, Elodee begins to notice imperfections and question her surroundingsthe weeds in their yard, how she and Naomi are drifting apart, what exactly her family wanted to forget. It's the last that drives Elodee to search for the truth about her past. In the process, she awakens Eventown's citizens to their feelings and connects her family through their shared stories. Although not as dark as The Giver, the narrative will evoke comparisons about the nature of perfection and the importance of memories. The Livelys present white, as does most of Eventown; one family integral to the plot is originally from India.At once enchanting, heart-rending, and bittersweetjust as Elodee would want it. (Fiction. 9-12) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
TextPublisher: New York, New York : Katherine Tegen Books, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers, [2019]Edition: First editionDescription: 328 pages ; 22 cmISBN: