Eventown by Corey Ann Haydu ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I am a huge fan of The Someday Suitcase by Corey Ann Haydu, so I was thrilled that she shared an ARC of her newest book, Eventown, with #BookPosse. This middle-grade novel will publish in February 2019, so you will have to wait a while to get your hands on it, but I promise it will be worth the wait. 

We meet twin sisters, Elodee and Naomi, on their last day in their hometown of Juniper. Things have been difficult for their family for a while; something terrible happened, and now they are sad all the time. Their parents decide to move the family, and they pick a small, idyllic place called Eventown. Everything seems perfect in Eventown; the food Elodee cooks tastes better than it ever has before; her father's rosebush from Juniper flourishes; her mom is finally happy, and shy Naomie feels right at home. Unfortunately, Elodee is having more trouble assimilating. A visit to the Eventown Welcoming Center is guaranteed to help Elodee fit in with everyone else. Unfortunately, her visit is cut short, and after that day, things start to go a little haywire in Eventown. Elodee starts questioning Eventown's perfection. The beautiful library is full of books with blank pages. The delicious ice cream shop only has three different flavors. There is only one song in all of Eventown. How can a place be perfect when everything and everyone is the same? 

I must admit that I was a bit frustrated with this book when I was a 100 pages in and still had no idea what awful thing had happened to Elodee's family. We know that it was something sad that upended the family's lives, but we have no clue what happened to make them feel the need for a fresh start. I was desperate to know what trauma they were trying to escape, and I was getting angry that it seemed like I was never going to find out. I was just being too impatient because we finally learn about their tragic past in the most perfect way. This book would not have been as powerful if Haydu had chosen to reveal their loss at the beginning or even middle of the book. By waiting until the end of the book, we feel the family's loss even more. 

Haydu's newest novel shows readers that "love is messy," but that messy can be beautiful and necessary. Our emotions are not isolated; we can be happy and sad at the same time. Sometimes we need to revisit events from our past, even if they are sad, to appreciate what we have in the present. This novel presents valuable life lessons (the importance of remembering the past and appreciating differences) in a very accessible way for middle-grade students. Eventown is a must-add to classroom and school libraries.