Winter Town

by Stephen Emond

Every winter, straight-laced, Ivy League bound Evan looks forward to a visit from Lucy, a childhood pal who moved away after her parent's divorce. But when Lucy arrives this year, she's changed. The former "girl next door" now has chopped dyed black hair, a nose stud, and a scowl. But Evan knows that somewhere beneath the Goth, "Old Lucy" still exists, and he's determined to find her... even if it means pissing her off.

Garden State meets Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist in this funny and poignant illustrated novel about opposites who fall in love.

• ISBN10: 0316133329
• ISBN13: 9780316133326
• Publish Date: 5 December 2011 (first published 1 January 2011)
• Publish Status: Out of Stock
• Out of Print: 2 June 2017
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: Little, Brown & Company
• Imprint: Little, Brown Young Readers
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 336
• Language: English

Reviews

[Joséphine]

In and of itself I would've given the novel merely two stars. I gave the third star for the illustrations and their fitting integration into the book. Either way, I wasn't impressed by the style of writing, plot or characterization. Overall, "Winter Town" fell so flat for me, I was actually relieved to reach the end. Thankfully there were redeeming moments which prevented me from chucking the book entirely. Of course there were the illustrations. Then there was the switch in perspective from Evan to Lucy, even though the author chose to stick to narrating in third person. The switch made reading a little more refreshing as it allowed the reader to see what both Evan and Lucy were all about. The attempt to show both Evan's and Lucy's worlds in a bid to reconcile their relationship lent the book its redeeming quality.

Sadly, the negatives were glaring throughout. For one, there seemed to be little direction. Either that or Evan's own lack of direction overpowered the narrative. There was an uneasy awkwardness to the writing too. It lacked substance in that it glossed a lot over the surface.