Okay For Now
Gary D. Schmidt
I loved The WEdnesday Wars. Loved it! But when I read Okay For Now I fell in love with it as well. I amazed me that Gary D. Schmidt was able to take this small character from The WEdnesday Wars and let me into his world so that I could see and understand him better. It was pure magic for me. Plus, as a teacher it also reminded me to remember that all my students come to school with backgrounds I may not know that affect their behavior and abilities. Such a good book.
National Book Award Finalist "[A] stealthily powerful, unexpectedly affirming story of discovering and rescuing one’s best self."—Booklist, starred review In this companion novel to The Wednesday Wars, Doug struggles to be more than the "skinny thug" that some people think him to be. He finds an unlikely ally in Lil Spicer, who gives him the strength to endure an abusive father, the suspicions of a town, and the return of his oldest brother, forever scarred, from Vietnam. Schmidt expertly weaves multiple themes of loss and recovery in a story teeming with distinctive, unusual characters and invaluable lessons about love, creativity, and survival.
Schmidt is just not my favorite, and my students are not picking this up. Oh, well. I hope you head over to Deb Marshall's Middle Grade March celebration! http://middlegrademarch.com/ We are expecting winter storms, so I'm glad she's starting off with a read-a-thon!
ReplyDeleteWell, Schmidt is one of my all-time favorite authors. I did like Okay for now much better than Wednesday Wars and also really loved What Came From the Stars. He's a very prolific author and I have much work to do to catch up. Thanks for reminding me.
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