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Happy Town
Stay calm and remain HAPPY. Help is on the way.
Perfect for fans of Gordon Korman and Jennifer L. Holm, this adventure-packed middle grade story, set in a world not too far from our own, follows a family that moves to a remote company town that seems perfect on the surface....
Keegan knows there’s something off about Happy Town.
The isolated, high-tech company town is too perfect—with a dome keeping out bad weather and self-driving vehicles rumbling throughout the town delivering residents to work and school. Still, Keegan is excited to grow his art skills at Happy Town’s state-of-the-art middle school, even if he has less time to see his mom and stepdad because of their new jobs.
But when the two become obsessed with working and eating Happy Corp Meat Cramwich (the Microwaveable Sandwich Crammed with Meat) and Keegan gets sentenced to Mandatory Work Opportunities for refusing to follow Happy Town’s shady rules, he discovers a dangerous glitch in the system that’s turning the town’s happy residents into mindless zombies. Scratch that, literal zombies. With his new friends Gloriana and Tank by his side, he’ll need to find a way to destroy Happy Town’s happy system—before there’s nothing left.
Perfect for fans of Gordon Korman and Jennifer L. Holm, this adventure-packed middle grade story, set in a world not too far from our own, follows a family that moves to a remote company town that seems perfect on the surface....
Keegan knows there’s something off about Happy Town.
The isolated, high-tech company town is too perfect—with a dome keeping out bad weather and self-driving vehicles rumbling throughout the town delivering residents to work and school. Still, Keegan is excited to grow his art skills at Happy Town’s state-of-the-art middle school, even if he has less time to see his mom and stepdad because of their new jobs.
But when the two become obsessed with working and eating Happy Corp Meat Cramwich (the Microwaveable Sandwich Crammed with Meat) and Keegan gets sentenced to Mandatory Work Opportunities for refusing to follow Happy Town’s shady rules, he discovers a dangerous glitch in the system that’s turning the town’s happy residents into mindless zombies. Scratch that, literal zombies. With his new friends Gloriana and Tank by his side, he’ll need to find a way to destroy Happy Town’s happy system—before there’s nothing left.
208 pages, Hardcover
First published October 22, 2024
7 people are currently reading
6984 people want to read
About the author
Greg Van Eekhout
60 books385 followersGreg van Eekhout writes books. Some are for kids, some are for adults. He lives in San Diego.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 45 reviews
May 13, 2025
✰ 2.75 stars ✰
Nothing like a twelve-year-old to remind you just how old you are?!! 😭😅 Well, to be fair, I don't recall the blurb being anything of the like on Edelweiss. I mean, why on earth would I gravitate to science fiction and horror as a choice of reading?? Don't you know me by now?? 😜🙂↔️
But, no matter, done is done, it made for a bewildering, but still enlightening Friday morning. 🙂↕️
“You’re only children, not the world’s number-one galaxy brain, so I’ll make this simple. If you can control what people want, you can control what they think.
And above all, you can make them happy, and isn’t making people happy the kindest thing you can do?”
As much as the rate at which the world spiraled into frenzy chaos upon arriving in Happy Town - a town the farthest thing from happy, I think Greg Van Eekhout addressed some very important issues, in an interesting, if not thought-provoking manner, one which actually reminded me of Ray Bradbury's works. In that, what is the true basis and motive behind the parents turned zombies, who were blinded by their misguided imps to be so tempted to devour their own kin? 😦
It's the thought that counts. And there was many a time that Keegan and his cohorts - the romance novel reader Tank and the mug-breaking Gloriana - were prompted with the thought - WHY? 🤔 Why did everything turn so wrong, so quickly, who was the mastermind behind it, a swarming mob of mindless consumers, which was 'the most broken thing I ever saw.' The brainwave of which these little ideas festered was intriguing to me, and one that I think kids nowadays who are in the mood for a bit of a dark and slightly graphic, but still challenging read might benefit from. 👍🏻
“Changing your worldview is part of becoming a hero,” Tank says.
For I did catch on slightly early to what path the author was taking when Keegan was reluctant for Happy Town to claim ownership of his artistic talents. The school board provides you paper and pen, so automatically it's their content for the taking? 🤨 Uh huh! It's then onwards where meat-loving (and not the edible kind!) parents and supervillains with ulterior motives take over the town (literally!) did I start to see it from an -- intellectual take, or rather the intent behind the story - addressing some heavy-hitting, but scarily relevant factors of our present-day society. 🥺
So with that alone, it nudged itself forward from being just a simple-minded chaotic fest to that of purpose - 'everyone is threatened, but mostly the youth of America.' It was watching Keegan be bold and daring, even overcome his emotional distraught of the change his parents forced him to do by moving here, by finding within him the courage to save them. 😥 The teamwork and the snark and humor between him and his friends was nicely balanced that saved it slightly from veering into nonsensical territory. The quirky cast of danger fit the menacing vibe with a juvenile touch of this twisted apocalypse not of their doing - of how we can be brainless into believing that we're happy the way we are, without any ability to think for ourselves. 😐
It's a frightening notion.
The ending caught me off-guard - not so much as a surprise, but it turned out to be one that had me appreciate the subtle subliminal context behind it - 'the rest is up to you and the choices you make.' 🌐 An important message that the target audience might just read and reflect on. The slogan for Happy Town, itself, is one that heeds as a warning, one is rather ominous when we think that if we remain mindless, without the intent of taking a stand or action, what future awaits humanity as we know it. 🫵🏻
“Please wait and remain happy. Help is on the way.”
Are you sure??? 👀🫣
“Only too late does a question occur to me: What’s a phone booth?”
Nothing like a twelve-year-old to remind you just how old you are?!! 😭😅 Well, to be fair, I don't recall the blurb being anything of the like on Edelweiss. I mean, why on earth would I gravitate to science fiction and horror as a choice of reading?? Don't you know me by now?? 😜🙂↔️
But, no matter, done is done, it made for a bewildering, but still enlightening Friday morning. 🙂↕️
“You’re only children, not the world’s number-one galaxy brain, so I’ll make this simple. If you can control what people want, you can control what they think.
And above all, you can make them happy, and isn’t making people happy the kindest thing you can do?”
As much as the rate at which the world spiraled into frenzy chaos upon arriving in Happy Town - a town the farthest thing from happy, I think Greg Van Eekhout addressed some very important issues, in an interesting, if not thought-provoking manner, one which actually reminded me of Ray Bradbury's works. In that, what is the true basis and motive behind the parents turned zombies, who were blinded by their misguided imps to be so tempted to devour their own kin? 😦
It's the thought that counts. And there was many a time that Keegan and his cohorts - the romance novel reader Tank and the mug-breaking Gloriana - were prompted with the thought - WHY? 🤔 Why did everything turn so wrong, so quickly, who was the mastermind behind it, a swarming mob of mindless consumers, which was 'the most broken thing I ever saw.' The brainwave of which these little ideas festered was intriguing to me, and one that I think kids nowadays who are in the mood for a bit of a dark and slightly graphic, but still challenging read might benefit from. 👍🏻
“Changing your worldview is part of becoming a hero,” Tank says.
For I did catch on slightly early to what path the author was taking when Keegan was reluctant for Happy Town to claim ownership of his artistic talents. The school board provides you paper and pen, so automatically it's their content for the taking? 🤨 Uh huh! It's then onwards where meat-loving (and not the edible kind!) parents and supervillains with ulterior motives take over the town (literally!) did I start to see it from an -- intellectual take, or rather the intent behind the story - addressing some heavy-hitting, but scarily relevant factors of our present-day society. 🥺
So with that alone, it nudged itself forward from being just a simple-minded chaotic fest to that of purpose - 'everyone is threatened, but mostly the youth of America.' It was watching Keegan be bold and daring, even overcome his emotional distraught of the change his parents forced him to do by moving here, by finding within him the courage to save them. 😥 The teamwork and the snark and humor between him and his friends was nicely balanced that saved it slightly from veering into nonsensical territory. The quirky cast of danger fit the menacing vibe with a juvenile touch of this twisted apocalypse not of their doing - of how we can be brainless into believing that we're happy the way we are, without any ability to think for ourselves. 😐
It's a frightening notion.
The ending caught me off-guard - not so much as a surprise, but it turned out to be one that had me appreciate the subtle subliminal context behind it - 'the rest is up to you and the choices you make.' 🌐 An important message that the target audience might just read and reflect on. The slogan for Happy Town, itself, is one that heeds as a warning, one is rather ominous when we think that if we remain mindless, without the intent of taking a stand or action, what future awaits humanity as we know it. 🫵🏻
“Please wait and remain happy. Help is on the way.”
Are you sure??? 👀🫣
Read
March 21, 2024When I was a kid I was amazed by how Margaret Peterson Haddix wrote medical ethics thrillers for kids. Now, there's Greg Van Eekhout writing technofascist/late-stage capitalism ethics thrillers for kids and I am even more here for it. This was lots of fun.
May 14, 2025
What if Amazon built a special town comprised of workers and their families? Things are more technologically advanced and deliveries come near instantaneously, but there's a darker side too...
That's basically the premise for this book and I liked the commentary on over-consumption and capitalism as a whole. There's a good balance of humor mixed in to keep things mostly light and the ending was an interesting surprise.
That's basically the premise for this book and I liked the commentary on over-consumption and capitalism as a whole. There's a good balance of humor mixed in to keep things mostly light and the ending was an interesting surprise.
March 10, 2025
Fantastic! Perfect! Right on the nose! Kids are smart enough to see this for what it is, and who/what this is parodying 🤣 the zombie bit (aka consumers) is perfection! I like the likeness to a mining company town. Kids see the problems right away, but us adults are too blinded by our screens to see what’s happening.
Hilarious, just spooky enough, and this would make an AMAZING movie!
Great for older kids- maybe 5th or 6th and up? There’s a lot of not so subtle jabs at our society, but if you’re too young you don’t know what you don’t know yet…that might make it a boring zombie book to a too young audience…
If you like this, try out Cory Doctorow!
Hilarious, just spooky enough, and this would make an AMAZING movie!
Great for older kids- maybe 5th or 6th and up? There’s a lot of not so subtle jabs at our society, but if you’re too young you don’t know what you don’t know yet…that might make it a boring zombie book to a too young audience…
If you like this, try out Cory Doctorow!
June 19, 2024
E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus
Keegan moves to Happy Town, in the Nevada desert, with his mother and step father, Carl, so that both of them can take jobs with the megaconglomerate run by Arlo Corn. The community serves as a hub for the distribution of Happy Town products, which is the biggest online shop in the world. Corn also hopes to eliminate poverty and hunger in his city under the glass dome. Keegan is a little doubtful, but glad that the adults in his life have jobs. He's a bit concerned about school, since the curriculum seems to center largely on the Corn mythos, and seems overly controlling. He does meet Tank, who is always getting in trouble for reading on school transportation instead of listening to the propagandistic messages, and Gloriana, who is so frustrated by the strictures of Happy Town life that she keeps a supply of Happy Town mugs around for the express purpose of smashing! The two spend a lot of time together after school in work opportunities, which serves the purpose of detention. Of course, there is no detention in Happy Town! Keegan starts to notice that there is a lot of advertising being broadcast, especially to the adults, who have implants ("imps") that are inserted into their ears and meld with their brains. First, all of the adults get very enthusiastic about band instruments, then a variety of hates, and then the Happy Town Meat Cramwich, sandwiches crammed full of meat. The first two are a bit odd, but harmless enough. The brainwashing about the Cramwiches, however, is so intense that all of the adults are basically turned into meat craving zombies. The children are not, so Keegan and his two new friends go to Arlo Corn's office to try to bring this to his attention, but find that he is trying to destroy all of the evidence about the Cramwich publicity plan and is attempting to leave town. This leaves Keegan and his "band of plucky youths" to try to figure out how to stop the now ravenous hordes of adults from eating them and wrecking everything in their wake. They align themselves with the Feral Gang of younger children, run by nine-year-old Bobbie Feral. After some misguided attempts to control the zombies (Bobbie has Tank tied to a flagpole to "lure" the adults!), Keegan realizes a way to reset their brains. Will he and the others be able to get to neutralize the threat before becoming Meat Cramwiches crammed full of TWEEN?
Strengths: I love it when a book surprises me, and this one certainly did. I was grooving along with Keegan in Happy Town, watching him settle in to his new school and seeing how he did with his parents when this became a slightly goofy dystopian tale with zombie parents and electric shock dealing Automals! I was just thinking about levels of quirky on my walk this morning. Tween quirky is hard to pull off. You need some goofy names, but they can't be too goofy. The situations have to be somewhat believable. I loved that van Eekhout worked advertising into this; the parallels with social media BEG for this one to be released in paper back so it can be used for class studies! There are the obvious comparisons to other gigantic online retailers, and having the city under a dome pushes it closer to science fiction. I love the cover; it's a great color. I was also glad to see that Keegan was described as being half Indonesian, and to see that once a week his mother would have Indonesian food.
Weaknesses: I would have loved to know more about life in Happy Town before things went wrong, but for actual tween readers, this is perfect. The stage is set, and action follows quickly. I would love to see some middle grade novels where eutopias hang on for a little longer before going bad.
What I really think: This goes along beautifully with titles like Laybourne's Sweet, Korman's Masterminds, and Hautman's The Flinkwater Factor. If you haven't looked at van Eekhout's other titles, make sure that you do, especially my favorite, Voyage of the Dogs. I love the idea of Barkonauts!
Keegan moves to Happy Town, in the Nevada desert, with his mother and step father, Carl, so that both of them can take jobs with the megaconglomerate run by Arlo Corn. The community serves as a hub for the distribution of Happy Town products, which is the biggest online shop in the world. Corn also hopes to eliminate poverty and hunger in his city under the glass dome. Keegan is a little doubtful, but glad that the adults in his life have jobs. He's a bit concerned about school, since the curriculum seems to center largely on the Corn mythos, and seems overly controlling. He does meet Tank, who is always getting in trouble for reading on school transportation instead of listening to the propagandistic messages, and Gloriana, who is so frustrated by the strictures of Happy Town life that she keeps a supply of Happy Town mugs around for the express purpose of smashing! The two spend a lot of time together after school in work opportunities, which serves the purpose of detention. Of course, there is no detention in Happy Town! Keegan starts to notice that there is a lot of advertising being broadcast, especially to the adults, who have implants ("imps") that are inserted into their ears and meld with their brains. First, all of the adults get very enthusiastic about band instruments, then a variety of hates, and then the Happy Town Meat Cramwich, sandwiches crammed full of meat. The first two are a bit odd, but harmless enough. The brainwashing about the Cramwiches, however, is so intense that all of the adults are basically turned into meat craving zombies. The children are not, so Keegan and his two new friends go to Arlo Corn's office to try to bring this to his attention, but find that he is trying to destroy all of the evidence about the Cramwich publicity plan and is attempting to leave town. This leaves Keegan and his "band of plucky youths" to try to figure out how to stop the now ravenous hordes of adults from eating them and wrecking everything in their wake. They align themselves with the Feral Gang of younger children, run by nine-year-old Bobbie Feral. After some misguided attempts to control the zombies (Bobbie has Tank tied to a flagpole to "lure" the adults!), Keegan realizes a way to reset their brains. Will he and the others be able to get to neutralize the threat before becoming Meat Cramwiches crammed full of TWEEN?
Strengths: I love it when a book surprises me, and this one certainly did. I was grooving along with Keegan in Happy Town, watching him settle in to his new school and seeing how he did with his parents when this became a slightly goofy dystopian tale with zombie parents and electric shock dealing Automals! I was just thinking about levels of quirky on my walk this morning. Tween quirky is hard to pull off. You need some goofy names, but they can't be too goofy. The situations have to be somewhat believable. I loved that van Eekhout worked advertising into this; the parallels with social media BEG for this one to be released in paper back so it can be used for class studies! There are the obvious comparisons to other gigantic online retailers, and having the city under a dome pushes it closer to science fiction. I love the cover; it's a great color. I was also glad to see that Keegan was described as being half Indonesian, and to see that once a week his mother would have Indonesian food.
Weaknesses: I would have loved to know more about life in Happy Town before things went wrong, but for actual tween readers, this is perfect. The stage is set, and action follows quickly. I would love to see some middle grade novels where eutopias hang on for a little longer before going bad.
What I really think: This goes along beautifully with titles like Laybourne's Sweet, Korman's Masterminds, and Hautman's The Flinkwater Factor. If you haven't looked at van Eekhout's other titles, make sure that you do, especially my favorite, Voyage of the Dogs. I love the idea of Barkonauts!
February 21, 2025
Keegan's parents have just gotten jobs with Happy Town, the über successful online shopping company dreamed up by tech genius Arlo Corn. Working there means they get to live in one of the Happy Towns. They think it is a dream come true at first, but things quickly show evidence of being anything but a Utopia. Keegan finds school rather odd. He gets a detention Mandatory Work Opportunity for not signing over the rights of his art class project, and he has to do an impossible job in the boxing department or his parents' pay will be decreased. He finds out all the adults in town have implants, and he and the other kids start to notice that the adults in town seem to be really obsessed with any product being advertised in town. This quickly escalates, a glitch in the system becomes evident, Arlo Corn is evacuating, and it is up to Keegan and his new friends Gloriana and Tommy to save everyone.
Van Eekhout has found a genius way to make a middle grade-friendly zombie dystopia story. The instigator is believable, but also not germ-related. The zombies do crave meat, things are a bit insane, but there's a fairly easy reversal to the zombie status (that's still a bit challenging to implement so we have a thrilling story). The book has some excellent points about advertising and the influence of media. The city also ropes people in with the promise of great jobs and living situations, but once people arrive their pay is docked for this, that, and every little thing. It will help readers understand how unscrupulous employers can loop in people into a form of modern day slavery that unfortunately really does happen in some places. Keegan, Tommy, and Gloriana are quirky and memorable characters. Keegan has a quick mind, is adjusting to life with his new step-dad, and loves the Indonesian food of his biological father's culture. He is trying to go with the flow in his new town, but soon learns it may be good to not go with the flow at times. Tommy reads a romance book a day and knows all sorts of things from the goofy books he's read. Gloriana delights in breaking things, and brings a Happy Town mug to school each day to knock off her desk and break as a cathartic exercise channeling her frustration against the town. All of their skills and diverse personalities makes them a great team when the zombies start showing up. I'm always on the hunt for middle grade dystopia and horror that is more thrilling than spooky, and this fits both those to a T.
Notes on content:
Language: None
Sexual content: None
Violence: Adults turned to zombies are trying to chew on the kids in town. One or two of the kids does get bit; they also get some minor injuries trying to get away from the zombies. Everyone ends up ok. Some people get minor shocks.
Ethnic diversity: Keegan is part Indonesian, I can't remember for sure but I believe either Tommy or Gloriana was Black.
LGBTQ+ content: One of the books Tommy mentions has two female main characters as the love interests (this is just a very brief mention, no mushy details).
Other: Tech influencing people to do things they would never normally do and act in crazy ways. Unscrupulous financial packages for employees that entrap them.
Van Eekhout has found a genius way to make a middle grade-friendly zombie dystopia story. The instigator is believable, but also not germ-related. The zombies do crave meat, things are a bit insane, but there's a fairly easy reversal to the zombie status (that's still a bit challenging to implement so we have a thrilling story). The book has some excellent points about advertising and the influence of media. The city also ropes people in with the promise of great jobs and living situations, but once people arrive their pay is docked for this, that, and every little thing. It will help readers understand how unscrupulous employers can loop in people into a form of modern day slavery that unfortunately really does happen in some places. Keegan, Tommy, and Gloriana are quirky and memorable characters. Keegan has a quick mind, is adjusting to life with his new step-dad, and loves the Indonesian food of his biological father's culture. He is trying to go with the flow in his new town, but soon learns it may be good to not go with the flow at times. Tommy reads a romance book a day and knows all sorts of things from the goofy books he's read. Gloriana delights in breaking things, and brings a Happy Town mug to school each day to knock off her desk and break as a cathartic exercise channeling her frustration against the town. All of their skills and diverse personalities makes them a great team when the zombies start showing up. I'm always on the hunt for middle grade dystopia and horror that is more thrilling than spooky, and this fits both those to a T.
Notes on content:
Language: None
Sexual content: None
Violence: Adults turned to zombies are trying to chew on the kids in town. One or two of the kids does get bit; they also get some minor injuries trying to get away from the zombies. Everyone ends up ok. Some people get minor shocks.
Ethnic diversity: Keegan is part Indonesian, I can't remember for sure but I believe either Tommy or Gloriana was Black.
LGBTQ+ content: One of the books Tommy mentions has two female main characters as the love interests (this is just a very brief mention, no mushy details).
Other: Tech influencing people to do things they would never normally do and act in crazy ways. Unscrupulous financial packages for employees that entrap them.
September 1, 2024
Well, where do I start? The book starts off decently. In some ways it reminded me of another middle grade novel I read awhile ago called Eventown. It also is about a family moving to what seems like a perfect place to live. As expected, it all falls apart and kids are left to save the day. This book almost moved too quickly for me. There wasn’t much set up for getting to know the main characters before disaster strikes. Kid will likely enjoy the crazy things that happen to the adults and how the kids manage to solve at least the first big problem. I didn’t love it, but a kid who likes sci-fi adventure may like this a lot. It was fairly short as well which would apply to more reluctant readers.
December 30, 2024
a dystopian corporate community (really off the walls --literal zombification from corporate advertising) saved by clever and brave kids. Fun but not my personal cup of tea; up-ed it to four stars because the target audience will probably enjoy it lots more.
January 20, 2025
Great potential, but it just fell flat for me.
July 7, 2024
I teach 4th grade and I will definitely be reading this book to my class! I have been a Gordon Korman fan for many many years. This book ticks all of the boxes, quirky characters, funny storylines, and interesting plots. I love the products that are produced in Happy Town. The "Meat Cramwich ... the Microwaveable Sandwich Crammed with Meat!"
I also liked the connection between our own children of today with their devices and in this book, the adults are the ones who are swayed by the power of marketing. Are we all just sheeples?
This adventure-packed middle grade story, set in a world not too far from our own, follows a family that moves to a remote company town that seems perfect on the surface....
Keegan knows there’s something off about Happy Town.
The isolated, high-tech company town is too perfect—with a dome keeping out bad weather and self-driving vehicles rumbling throughout the town delivering residents to work and school. Still, Keegan is excited to grow his art skills at Happy Town’s state-of-the-art middle school, even if he has less time to see his mom and stepdad because of their new jobs.
But when the two become obsessed with working and eating Happy Corp Meat Cramwich (the Microwaveable Sandwich Crammed with Meat) and Keegan gets sentenced to Mandatory Work Opportunities for refusing to follow Happy Town’s shady rules, he discovers a dangerous glitch in the system that’s turning the town’s happy residents into mindless zombies. Scratch that, literal zombies. With his new friends Gloriana and Tank by his side, he’ll need to find a way to destroy Happy Town’s happy system—before there’s nothing left.
Thank you to NetGalley for a chance to read this ARC for an honest review.
I also liked the connection between our own children of today with their devices and in this book, the adults are the ones who are swayed by the power of marketing. Are we all just sheeples?
This adventure-packed middle grade story, set in a world not too far from our own, follows a family that moves to a remote company town that seems perfect on the surface....
Keegan knows there’s something off about Happy Town.
The isolated, high-tech company town is too perfect—with a dome keeping out bad weather and self-driving vehicles rumbling throughout the town delivering residents to work and school. Still, Keegan is excited to grow his art skills at Happy Town’s state-of-the-art middle school, even if he has less time to see his mom and stepdad because of their new jobs.
But when the two become obsessed with working and eating Happy Corp Meat Cramwich (the Microwaveable Sandwich Crammed with Meat) and Keegan gets sentenced to Mandatory Work Opportunities for refusing to follow Happy Town’s shady rules, he discovers a dangerous glitch in the system that’s turning the town’s happy residents into mindless zombies. Scratch that, literal zombies. With his new friends Gloriana and Tank by his side, he’ll need to find a way to destroy Happy Town’s happy system—before there’s nothing left.
Thank you to NetGalley for a chance to read this ARC for an honest review.
March 2, 2025
This is a great introduction to the absurdities of late stage capitalism and how being a bootlicker for billionaires is ridiculous. The billionaire is clearly supposed to be a mix of Musk and Bezos, and the author is relentless with how the billionaire is seen as cartoonishly evil and also not very smart. It is funny and accurate!
The concept of the book is kinda like a funny Twilight Zone episode meets They Live all for kids. The main characters live in this town, Happy Town, that was designed by this multibillionaire and everyone who lives in the town works for the billionaire's business, which is an Amazon-ish sort of store. All the workers have to have some sort of implant in their brain. The main character is excited by the fact that the school has an art program, until he realizes he would have to give up the rights to all his art in order to complete an assignment. Everything goes haywire when the consumers develop a love of meat.
This is a great book to bring up talks about capitalism, digital privacy, and not falling for every ad you see for kids who are around 10-13. Even though it is funny throughout, the zaniness doesn't prevent it from getting somewhat frightening towards the end when all the adults, including the main character's guardians, become literal consumerist zombies. I can imagine kids who are fans of funny scary books, such as Goosebumps, would like this book.
The concept of the book is kinda like a funny Twilight Zone episode meets They Live all for kids. The main characters live in this town, Happy Town, that was designed by this multibillionaire and everyone who lives in the town works for the billionaire's business, which is an Amazon-ish sort of store. All the workers have to have some sort of implant in their brain. The main character is excited by the fact that the school has an art program, until he realizes he would have to give up the rights to all his art in order to complete an assignment. Everything goes haywire when the consumers develop a love of meat.
This is a great book to bring up talks about capitalism, digital privacy, and not falling for every ad you see for kids who are around 10-13. Even though it is funny throughout, the zaniness doesn't prevent it from getting somewhat frightening towards the end when all the adults, including the main character's guardians, become literal consumerist zombies. I can imagine kids who are fans of funny scary books, such as Goosebumps, would like this book.
June 29, 2025
What a goofy book! There were some genuinely laugh-out-loud funny moments. Definitely up there with some of Gordon Korman’s best stories. I’ll have to read more from this author!
July 20, 2024
A generous 3 stars, I feel.
I loved the book Cog by Greg Van Eekhout, so I was looking forward to trying this new one by him. Unfortunately, it wasn't my thing. Cannibalistic zombies, incompetent adults (although to be fair, this is addressed later on).
The general idea intruiged me, and the humor really redeemed it a little bit for me. It was so silly. But I wouldn't read it again and I won't be recommending it to my kiddos. 🤷🏼♀️
I loved the book Cog by Greg Van Eekhout, so I was looking forward to trying this new one by him. Unfortunately, it wasn't my thing. Cannibalistic zombies, incompetent adults (although to be fair, this is addressed later on).
The general idea intruiged me, and the humor really redeemed it a little bit for me. It was so silly. But I wouldn't read it again and I won't be recommending it to my kiddos. 🤷🏼♀️
August 11, 2024
A quirky MG adventure story
November 14, 2024
Extremely on-the-nose, but in a world beyond satire, sometimes on-the-nose is the best you can do.
March 7, 2025
First sentence: "Welcome to Happy Town. We Make Happy." The cow-sized blimp sails over our new house, displaying the Happy Town motto in glowing letters. I still don't know much about Happy Town, but I do know that Happy Town doesn't make happy. Happy Town doesn't make anything. They sell everything, though: diapers, donuts, drones, phones, toilet paper, toothbrushes, lawn mowers, luggage, abacuses, applesauce, athlete's foot powder, art supplies, and thousands of other products. Happy Town is the biggest online shop in the world, and it's also my new home.
Premise/plot: Keegan is open to the idea of liking his new town, Happy Town, even though he's not thrilled with how often his parents are moving around. However, Happy Town may just have more secrets than it does products for sell. Fortunately, kids have a little safeguard in place--no imps just yet--but it may not be enough to protect them from zombie consumers...
My thoughts: I enjoyed this one. I didn't love, love, love it in an over-the-top gushy way. Yet it was all silly thrills and overall enjoyment. Keegan makes friends with Tank and Gloriana and the three of them may just have enough spunk to save themselves--and the clueless, mindless adults. The premise was fun. The characters were fun. Solidly enjoyable dystopia for younger readers.
Premise/plot: Keegan is open to the idea of liking his new town, Happy Town, even though he's not thrilled with how often his parents are moving around. However, Happy Town may just have more secrets than it does products for sell. Fortunately, kids have a little safeguard in place--no imps just yet--but it may not be enough to protect them from zombie consumers...
My thoughts: I enjoyed this one. I didn't love, love, love it in an over-the-top gushy way. Yet it was all silly thrills and overall enjoyment. Keegan makes friends with Tank and Gloriana and the three of them may just have enough spunk to save themselves--and the clueless, mindless adults. The premise was fun. The characters were fun. Solidly enjoyable dystopia for younger readers.
January 19, 2025
"Please wait and remain happy. Help is on the way." So goes the familiar refrain that can be heard throughout Happy Town when something, unthinkably, malfunctions. van Eekhout has written a story that is part humor, part horror, and part cautionary tale. Keegan doesn't completely trust the new community he, his mom, and his stepfather have relocated to, but he's trying to keep an open mind. It doesn't take long for the utopia of Happy Town, run by a tech bajillionaire, turns out to be anything but. Happy Town seems to draw from works like 1984 and The Giver but with more absurdity and a lighter touch. When all the adults in town are brainwashed by omnipresent advertising to ravenously consume all the meat they can see, they run out of the prepackaged sandwiches being advertised and begin to set their sights on eating the children of Happy Town. Suddenly Keegan and his friends find themselves in a zombie survival novel. Resilient and resourceful, the young people do manage to undo the brainwashing, but the book ends on a cliffhanger, leaving open the possibility for more absurd adventures. Thoughtful readers will find many of Keegan's reflections lead them to ask their own questions about consumerism and power.
Recommended for grades 4-7.
Recommended for grades 4-7.
February 3, 2025
"Please wait and remain happy. Help is on the way." So goes the familiar refrain that can be heard throughout Happy Town when something, unthinkably, malfunctions. Van Eekhout has written a story that is part humor, part horror, and part cautionary tale.
Keegan doesn't completely trust the new community he, his mom, and his stepfather have relocated to, but he's trying to keep an open mind. It doesn't take long for the utopia of Happy Town, run by a tech bajillionaire, turns out to be anything but. Happy Town seems to draw from works like 1984 and The Giver but with more absurdity and a lighter touch. When all the adults in town are brainwashed by omnipresent advertising to ravenously consume all the meat they can see, they run out of the prepackaged sandwiches being advertised and begin to set their sights on eating the children of Happy Town. Suddenly Keegan and his friends find themselves in a zombie survival novel. Resilient and resourceful, the young people do manage to undo the brainwashing, but the book ends on a cliffhanger, leaving open the possibility for more absurd adventures.
Thoughtful readers will find many of Keegan's reflections lead them to ask their own questions about consumerism and power.
Recommended for grades 4-7.
K.M.
School Librarian
Keegan doesn't completely trust the new community he, his mom, and his stepfather have relocated to, but he's trying to keep an open mind. It doesn't take long for the utopia of Happy Town, run by a tech bajillionaire, turns out to be anything but. Happy Town seems to draw from works like 1984 and The Giver but with more absurdity and a lighter touch. When all the adults in town are brainwashed by omnipresent advertising to ravenously consume all the meat they can see, they run out of the prepackaged sandwiches being advertised and begin to set their sights on eating the children of Happy Town. Suddenly Keegan and his friends find themselves in a zombie survival novel. Resilient and resourceful, the young people do manage to undo the brainwashing, but the book ends on a cliffhanger, leaving open the possibility for more absurd adventures.
Thoughtful readers will find many of Keegan's reflections lead them to ask their own questions about consumerism and power.
Recommended for grades 4-7.
K.M.
School Librarian
April 8, 2025
from goodreads:
this adventure-packed middle grade story, set in a world not too far from our own, follows a family that moves to a remote company town that seems perfect on the surface....
Keegan knows there’s something off about Happy Town.
The isolated, high-tech company town is too perfect—with a dome keeping out bad weather and self-driving vehicles rumbling throughout the town delivering residents to work and school. Still, Keegan is excited to grow his art skills at Happy Town’s state-of-the-art middle school, even if he has less time to see his mom and stepdad because of their new jobs.
But when the two become obsessed with working and eating Happy Corp Meat Cramwich (the Microwaveable Sandwich Crammed with Meat) and Keegan gets sentenced to Mandatory Work Opportunities for refusing to follow Happy Town’s shady rules, he discovers a dangerous glitch in the system that’s turning the town’s happy residents into mindless zombies. Scratch that, literal zombies. With his new friends Gloriana and Tank by his side, he’ll need to find a way to destroy Happy Town’s happy system—before there’s nothing left.
this adventure-packed middle grade story, set in a world not too far from our own, follows a family that moves to a remote company town that seems perfect on the surface....
Keegan knows there’s something off about Happy Town.
The isolated, high-tech company town is too perfect—with a dome keeping out bad weather and self-driving vehicles rumbling throughout the town delivering residents to work and school. Still, Keegan is excited to grow his art skills at Happy Town’s state-of-the-art middle school, even if he has less time to see his mom and stepdad because of their new jobs.
But when the two become obsessed with working and eating Happy Corp Meat Cramwich (the Microwaveable Sandwich Crammed with Meat) and Keegan gets sentenced to Mandatory Work Opportunities for refusing to follow Happy Town’s shady rules, he discovers a dangerous glitch in the system that’s turning the town’s happy residents into mindless zombies. Scratch that, literal zombies. With his new friends Gloriana and Tank by his side, he’ll need to find a way to destroy Happy Town’s happy system—before there’s nothing left.
June 24, 2025
Keegan isn't thrilled about living in Happy Town. It's all about consumerism and he's not a fan of the rules that caused him to be sentenced to Mandatory Work Opportunities. And when people start becoming obsessed with meat, to the point that they're turning into zombies, he realizes that he needs to find a way to fix it, alongside his friends, Tank and Gloriana.
I was going to give this a higher rater, but then the ending happened.
The pacing felt a little weird, but overall I enjoyed it. But then it ended on a cliffhanger. Hence the low rating. I wanted a happier ending to be honest, especially because I feel that the characters' cl[q~"]ever solution deserved to have a happy ending. I'm really disappointed that it ended this way, and if it hadn't been for that, I would have recommended it and given it a great rating.
I was going to give this a higher rater, but then the ending happened.
The pacing felt a little weird, but overall I enjoyed it. But then it ended on a cliffhanger. Hence the low rating. I wanted a happier ending to be honest, especially because I feel that the characters' cl[q~"]ever solution deserved to have a happy ending. I'm really disappointed that it ended this way, and if it hadn't been for that, I would have recommended it and given it a great rating.
January 14, 2025
I read this in one sitting. I loved that the two supporting characters were against type - Also, I didn't read this book as soon as I got it because I am scared of zombies. But this was a zippy adventure, a great read for kids and a quick, fun one for grown-ups.
December 20, 2024
I wasn't expecting a primer on how to think about the next four years but I got it in a hilarious middle grade. The lampooning of Amazon, AI, and Arlo (cough Elon) Corn was right on. This was a MG version of Rob Hart's The Warehouse, except somehow funnier (and Hart is very funny). Loved it.
February 18, 2025
My son picked this out simply based on the cover and asked me to read it to him and his sister and it was SO FUN. We were all laughing, but learning too! If you want your kids to understand the dangers of materialism and the tech bro oligarchy, this book is just what you need. There was another quote I posted to stories about how if these men can control what we want, they can also control how we vote. Brilliant! And your kids will never zone out because the story is exciting and engaging. Great job, Greg Van Eekhout! We will be reading more of your stuff!
November 10, 2024
All the middle-grade gentle silliness cannot hide a dystopia that's at most two minutes, one sidestep, and some cannibal zombies into the future. And the end...made me think of M.T. Anderson's Feed, in which there is no help coming, just the protagonist and their friends and the getting-remoter possibility that they might be able to to do something.
Please remain happy, help is on the way.
Please remain happy, help is on the way.
November 1, 2024
This novel surprised me completely as I had no idea how things were going to go wrong in Happy Town. I loved the friendships between Keegan, Tank, and Gloriana and the dry, sarcastic humor had me smiling and laughing. This novel is action-packed and kept me reading to find out what happens next. Another fun book from this author.
Read
July 9, 2025I was good with this book until the last chapter, when a BIG THING happened, and then the book just stopped. And maybe some readers will take the unfinished ending, and spin their own, and decide that things turn out wonderfully, that the BIG THING turns out to be a great step for the characters. But all I see is gloom and doom for their future. And I don't like it.
April 20, 2025
I enjoyed parts of this story quite a bit: the quirky characters, satire, parallels of greed and corruption. I was not a huge fan of the flesh eating cannibalism. I get what the author was trying to do, but it was a bit violent for me, at least for a story geared for MG readers.
June 16, 2025
I guess the humor served to take the edge off the horror of being hunted by zombified parents, but it was a little too zany for my liking, which is saying a lot because I love humorous books for kids.
July 31, 2025
This book was so funny! I actually laughed out loud several times while reading. I did this with my tween book club, so I'm curious to see if they found it to be as funny as I, as an adult, did. Like other reviewers, not the biggest fan of the ending, but it served its purpose.
eligible-in-2025
October 23, 2024Thanks, Ms. Yingling! https://msyinglingreads.blogspot.com/...
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