A tribute to the power of resilience. Author Steve Marchand takes the reader on an emotional roller coaster as he recounts the period of his childhood during which he became an orphan. Through an intense reflection, the author describes the daily life at an orphanage called Ville Joie, or Happy Town, as well as his experiences, at times good but at times shocking, with the different families who took him in on a "trial basis." While Citizen of Happy Town is in no way intended as a clinical or educational tool, those who work with children or in the field of adoption would do well to read it, if only to discover what a child can see and feel in difficult situations.