Author Corey Ann Haydu Shares 5 Fun Facts About Eventown
When you’re growing up, sometimes it feels like everything is going wrong all at once. It can be tempting to wish for everything to be perfect, but sometimes perfection isn’t all that it seems.
In Eventown, Elodee and her twin sister Naomi have started to drift apart, and her family just isn’t the same after a tragic incident that happened earlier that year. So when Elodee’s mother announces that she’s taking a job in a new town, she is hopeful that moving is the fresh start her family needs.
On the surface, Eventown seems like a dream come true. All the houses look exactly the same, the scenery is vibrant, and the move seems to bring a comforting vibe that begins to make her family feel complete again. After a chilling visit to the town’s Welcome Center, Elodee starts to notice some peculiar things about the town and the people who live there. Why do they only ever play one song in music class and why does it seem like everyone in the town is missing an important part of themselves?
As Elodee unravels the mystery, she realizes that this perfect little town isn’t quite so perfect after all.
Eventown is beautifully eerie and a little bit sad, but will leave you filled with so much hope. It’s one of those stories that reminds you as a reader why books are so magical. Intrigued? Author Corey Ann Haydu is sharing 5 Fun Facts about Elodee, Eventown, and the real-life inspirations behind the story.
Eventown Fun Facts:
- FACT #1
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The town of Eventown is lightly based on a town where I spent summers growing up, in New Hampshire. I borrowed blueberry bushes and ice cream shops and pine trees from those summers. It was a place I LOVED for a long time, and then as real life invaded, it was a place that drew out some of my fears and insecurities. Sometimes I still miss long bike rides to the candy store, the sandcastle contest I participated in every year, laying on the raft we used to swim out to, catching and releasing tadpoles and frogs from the perfect pond at the top of the hill. But I know at some point that magical perfection changed, and it wasn’t the same anymore.
Those changes make me sad, but they happen sometimes, and Eventown reminds me that maybe we don’t need things to be perfect to be happy.
- FACT #2
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The main character in Eventown made me try something new — baking! When I started writing Elodee, I made her an experimental cook and baker. I had been cooking for five years by then, but I hadn’t baked at all. I made my first cake the Christmas after I started writing Eventown…and it was excellent!
- FACT #3
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Elodee’s twin, Naomi, also has a hobby—gymnastics. I was very into gymnastics when I was Naomi’s age, so it was fun to write about that former passion of mine.
Of all the things I used to do and stopped doing, gymnastics is the only one that I really, really miss and wish I’d never given up. I’d still like to spend an afternoon on the beam, which was my favorite apparatus.
- FACT #4
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One of my favorite parts of Eventown is her music class. Things get strange in the Eventown music class, but especially in the scene where Elodee gets to play the triangle.
I always wanted to play the triangle in music class growing up, but my music teacher always assigned me the xylophone. For some reason, the triangle always seemed like the coolest, prettiest instrument to play. And I was envious of the girls who were chosen to play it. I never felt like the coolest, prettiest girl. I never felt like I was doing things quite right. I was sure the triangle would have made me feel more “right”. But maybe there is no right way to be!
- FACT #5
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Even though all of my books are different, I’m always writing about things that matter to me. I like to write about the harder parts of life because when I was growing up I was drawn to sad books because I had a tough time growing up in my family.
Some people like to read happy books when they’re going through something tough. But for me, happy books made me jealous of all the happy characters. I like to read sad books when I’m struggling. It reminds me that I’m not alone and that we are all connected through our struggles. And the best sad books are filled with hope.
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