Eventown by Corey Ann Haydu
Hello,
Corey Ann Haydu! Eventown will look
lovely on a shelf next to The Someday
Suitcase, The Careful Undressing of
Love, Rules for Stealing Stars, Making Pretty, Life by Committee, and OCD
LOVE STORY. Tell us about the scene on Eventown’s
cover.
Corey Ann Haydu: We were BEYOND lucky to have Jane Newland illustrate
the cover of Eventown, and it is
truly magnificent. I can’t stop looking at it. Saying too much about what
exactly the cover depicts would give away some of the best twists and turns in
the book, but it is an illustration of Eventown, and it perfectly captures all
my favorite parts of the town. It feels exactly like what I pictured in my head
when I first started writing the book, which is a very special feeling. I
encourage everyone to spend time looking at all the little details. But I can’t
say much more than that!
What
do Elodee and Naomi have in common?
Corey Ann Haydu: Elodee and Naomi are identical twins who share a
common goal: they want their family to be okay. Though Elodee is more of a
firecracker and Naomi is more of a reserved rule follower, they are both filled
with compassion and trust in their family. They are open to doing absolutely
anything that will make their parents happy. In their own ways, the both love
hard with persistent, resilient hearts.
Do
you have a favorite spot in the town of Eventown?
Corey Ann Haydu: Yes! My favorite spot in Eventown is where Naomi and
Elodee take their first field trip— a hill covered in blueberry bushes. I based
the scene and the location on a beautiful part of New Hampshire that my family
and I used to spend every summer. I loved picking blueberries and feeing my
shoulders get warm in the sun and falling in love with the way sweet things
grow all around us. I knew very early on that for Eventown to be an idyllic
place, it would need to be covered in blueberry bushes.
Please
finish these sentence starters:
Story
is something we all have inside of us. It’s what we turn to when we are making
friends, falling in love, saying goodbye.
School
libraries are my favorite thing to check out during a school visit! I think you
can learn so much about a school and a community by spending a little time in
their library.
Mr.
Schu, you should have asked me what my favorite baked good is! Eventown involves a LOT of baking, and I
wrote it while pregnant, so you can be sure it is chock full of delicious
foods. My current favorite baked good is a maple-pecan scone that my local
coffee shop has every so often. It’s the best when it shows up when I’m having
a bad morning. It can turn my whole day around.
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 begins to ask questions about Eventown that no one seems
to be able to answer. Everything may be “even” in Eventown, but is there a
price to pay for perfection—and pretending?
From critically acclaimed
author Corey Ann Haydu, Eventown is an utterly compelling and
unforgettable novel about the stories that shape us and the transformative
powers of loss and love.
“A wonderful and inventive story about being
a kid in an imperfect world—beautiful, mysterious and deeply satisfying.”
–Rebecca Stead, Newbery
Medal-winning author of When You Reach Me and Goodbye
Stranger
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