Happyface feels bad for getting too involved in these people's lives so he decides to leave them alone. 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.

This shows Happyface's uncanny ability to poke fun at himself while he tells his story in his diary.Īt 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. He starts out being quite successful, attracting the girl of his dreams. His strategy to become 'cool' is to smile all the time and see if he can make friends. 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. 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. 'About this title' may belong to another edition of this title.The main character in the book Happyface refers to himself simply as 'Happyface' and this is also what all of his friends call him. The pencil-and-ink sketches, comics, and doodles, paired with a disastrously small handwriting font, lend an intimate stream-of-consciousness feel to a story by turns funny, wrenching, quirky, and redemptive.- Joyce Adams Burner, National Archives at Kansas City, MOĬopyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. Emond tells the story via the teen's illustrated journal, authentically capturing his up-and-down emotions. Inevitably, the suppressed inner feelings build until Happyface blows up, finally giving him the chance to come clean and make an authentically fresh start without hiding behind a mask. It works for a while and, surrounded by popular friends who know nothing of his real story, Happyface pursues the enigmatic Gretchen, struggling to interpret her mixed signals. Bottling up his grief and fear, he pastes a big smile on his face and makes a fresh start as the class clown. When horrific tragedy tears his family apart, he finds himself living in a ratty apartment with his newly sober mom and attending a new high school. Grade 7–10-Happyface is a shy, artistic sophomore, awkwardly coping with life from the sidelines.

Happyface by stephen emond