Winter Town

Evan Owens (who has to be Welsh, with a name like that!) is in his senior year of high school, a highly-motivated straight-A student whose parents are determined that he make all decisions with the goal of getting into an Ivy League college. His best friend from childhood, Lucy Brown, now lives in Atlanta, Georgia, and only visits her father in New England during Winter Break. Normally, she and Evan spend as much time as possible together, but this year something’s different. Lucy has changed. She now sports a Gothic look, and she communicates in grunts and shrugs. Evan is perplexed, but there are things that Lucy’s not telling him—of family trouble and a harsh new stepfather figure who’s kicked her out of the house.

The teens struggle with their feelings for each other, which they manage to articulate to themselves for the first time this holiday. Lucy is viewed with suspicion by Evan’s father (he worries she will distract Evan from his college goals), with mystification by her own father, and with worry by Evan’s mother and grandmother, who invite her in to play games with them and for Christmas dinner.

Winter Town is, in many ways, a coming-of-age novel. Evan has to decide how much he’ll let his father’s dreams of his future determine his choices, and how much credence to give his creative, quirky, geeky side that is what Lucy loves about him. Sometimes I’m frustrated with children’s and YA lit and movies that basically teach that everybody should be an artist and follow their dreams to economic destitution, but I was satisfied with how Evan reached his decisions and what those choices were.

Winter Town is told partly in graphic-novel form, with bold and blocky illustrations throughout. This fits the personalities of the protagonists, who for years have created comic strips together, and the pictures really add to the story’s feel. It’s an enjoyable read, even heart-warming, as you come to really care about Evan and Lucy. I would recommend it, especially for older teens with a creative, artistic side. (There are references to sex, drinking, and other elements that would make me caution those with younger teens or tweens.)

Elizabeth is all about following your dreams, especially when they lead to gainful employment. Read more at her blog Planet Nomad.