The Happy Shop - Brittany Long Olsen - ★★★.½

AUTHOR: Brittany Long Olsen

GENRE: Middle-grade Graphic Novel

RATING: 3.5 stars

In a Nutshell: A middle-grade graphic novel focussing on emotions and their positive manipulation through a “happy shop” selling feelings. A wholesome story but might be a bit too intense or deep for little minds.

Story Synopsis:

Eleven-year-old Darcy isn’t happy about moving to a new town where the people and the weather both seem unfriendly. While running an errand for her mother, she discovers a quaint store named “The Happy Shop”, which sells happy feelings. When Darcy accidentally breaks one of the magical jars, she is allowed to make it up to the shop owners, sisters Frida and Flora, by working there after school to help with the cleaning and simple chores. Darcy soon discovers that the shop isn’t doing so well. Can she help Flora and Frida save the shop? Along the way, she also learns how happiness works.

In terms of concept, the book is fabulous. Understanding that happiness isn’t the only important emotion, and that there is “relative happiness” is an important life lesson for children, and this book presents it well.

That said, I feel that the complexities of emotions as explored in the book won’t be completely understood by younger middle graders. As the story comes from a middle grader’s perspective, the concept is put forth mainly through her eyes. But the philosophy of the book , though accurate, is deep, and thus, it might be better understood if read with adult guidance.

This might be one of the few times where I liked the morals more than the core story itself. The plot takes the title seriously and focusses mainly on “the happy shop”, with a minor focus on Darcy’s home life. As such, one crucial aspect of the child’s life – her experiences at her new school - is skipped out. Many minor elements are not included or quickly revealed within a single sentence, leaving much for the reader to gauge on their own.

The magical jars are an important conduit for the sale of emotions. I like how their functionality is depicted without going into technicalities. But there is a lot left to the imagination. Where do Flora and Frida get the jars? How do some of the more specific feelings provide happiness to their buyers? I wish there were a bit more detailing to this aspect.

The text is quite simple and at the level of the target age group. Many of the pages have only graphics and no text, thereby making this a quick read.

The illustrations were decent enough - not bad, but not excellent as well. They might work better for middle graders, but I have read far too many graphic novels by now to be mesmerised by a simplistic art style. Graphics are an important part of a graphic novel experience for me, and in this instance, I am somewhat disappointed. But the cover art does match what is inside, so at least it was not a case of false promises. What you see on the cover is what you get inside – I appreciate that.

I read this book with my younger daughter, who fits the target age group. She found the story “too simple and better for kids.” (Ahem!) However, I found the basic concept quite deep. So something clearly went awry between reading and processing in her mind. Or, it may just be, as I said earlier, that the philosophy of emotions is a bit too complex for children who haven’t experienced that many negative feelings yet.

All in all, a decent one-time read. But not too memorable for my middle-grader or me.

3.5 stars, rounding down wherever applicable because the in-house MG boss wasn’t impressed.

My thanks to Oni Press and NetGalley for the DRC of “The Happy Shop”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.