Picking up right where Happy Head left off, this suspenseful sequel begins with exactly what you’d expect: a group of kids who have been deemed not happy enough being challenged and facing what feels like life-or-death situations in an attempt to build self-esteem, trust, and, from what they’ve been told, happiness.
Elmhallow was whispered about in Happy Head as the next location of the next set of challenges our group of morose youth will be up against. Little did any of them know it would involve the place being an island in the middle of who knows where, with no possibility of communication with the outside world.
If you thought the challenges Seb and his peers faced in the first book were messed up, you’re in for an even more intense time this round. Not only are some of the original group members nowhere to be found, there’s been no explanation of why some kids moved on to Elmhallow and others did not. All Seb can hope is that wherever they are, his friend Finn is safe.
Seb is pretty confident that Elmhallow is not a safe place and that HappyHead, the whole project or whatever it really is, is not something that he and the others will benefit from. Not only do the challenges they face get progressively more dangerous, but the main people in charge don’t seem equipped to handle the fallout and repercussions that occur when their authority is questioned.
Not for the faint of heart, Dead Happy is an intriguing perspective of what a mental health program could look like if they want a huge lawsuit on their hands. Follow Seb and his friends (and possibly enemies) as they navigate Fear Factor-esque situations that any sane human, happy or unhappy, would struggle to conquer.
Review of a Digital Advance Reading Copy from Random House Children’s Books
Content Analysis:
Profanity/Language: 97 religious exclamations; 37 mild obscenities; 7 derogatory names; 75 scatological words; 2 anatomical terms; 100 F-word derivatives.
Violence/Gore: Minors are put into multiple dangerous situations that could result in injury or death while being “supervised” and challenged by adults throughout the book; a scene occurs where minors are in a rising body of water with their hands tied and they must work together to survive; a brief scene occurs where minors possess a sharp object and slice into their skin, some blood is mentioned; verbal threats are made multiple times throughout the book; a scene occurs where minors are instructed to kill a pig to face their fear of death, the group watches a pig being killed with a knife and the pig is described to be in distress and to bleed and die; a scene occurs where minors are instructed to allow a bag to be put over their head so they can’t see and they are played loud, distressing noises that seem very real and make the protagonist think he might possibly be in danger or his teammates might be; a scene occurs where a group of minors are to face another fear and they are told to participate in an exercise involving a narrow board over a hole and deep fall in a rocky area, a character falls and almost gets badly injured; an exercise is depicted with minors using a crossbow to shoot a bold into a target that has their teammate in front of it, one girl is grazed by the crossbow bolt and some blood is mentioned; a person is reported to have killed themselves while they were in a hospital; minors are given bracelets that can send shocks into their teammates if they are instructed to use them and multiple brief scenes occur where the bracelets are utilized and characters are described to be in obvious pain and distress when this occurs; a minor is reported to have broken into a home in their past; a minor is in such distress emotionally that he smashes his fist against his head several times in a brief scene; a girl is mentioned to be injured after a team activity and a peer is described to stomp on one of her legs in retaliation and anger; a dead goat is mentioned to be seen by minors in a brief scene, the goat is mentioned to have dried blood by its mouth and nose; a scene occurs where multiple people are in a fight that involves a knife and one character ends up stabbed with blood mentioned; a minor is described to be hit on the head with a heavy object in a brief altercation.
Sex/Nudity: Minor boys are hinted at having more than a friendship between them and possibly being interested in an intimate relationship; minors are paired together as couples of opposite sex and expected to act as a team but some innuendo is referred to in several very brief instances; a minor male peer kisses another minor male because he thinks the other male wants there to be something more between them; a boy mentions he thinks he is gay; a woman kisses adults on the forehead in a motherly way; a minor girl kisses a minor male for show; a man is referred to as sexy; a girl is mentioned to kiss a boy on the cheek.
Mature Subject Matter:
Death; trauma; loss of a loved one; sexual identity exploration; mental health issues; extreme and questionable mental health treatment practices; killing of animal as an exercise.
Alcohol/Drug Use:
A minor is mentioned to have used drugs in the past and to have been addicted to them.
