Thursday, January 3, 2013

You know what that feels like?

I just read Okay For Now by Gary Schmidt. It's - sort of - a companion book to the Newberry Honor book, The Wednesday Wars... but it stands on its own just fine.


Okay For Now is a heartbreaking story of friendship, family, art, and reading. It's a rollercoaster of emotions as you follow Doug Swieteck through eighth grade in a new town. There's moments of joy and despair... you'll keep hoping for the best, but dreading the worst.

Doug tells his own story in a wonderful, conversational narration. "You know what that feels like?", he frequently asks the reader. “OKAY. So I was going to the library every Saturday. So what? So what? It's not like I was reading books or anything.”  Kids will love it; I loved it. “By the way, in case you weren't paying attention or something, did you catch what Mr. Powell called me? "Young artist." I bet you missed that.” 

Read Okay For Now. Buy it for kids who love realistic fiction, or historical fiction, or books about quests, or the telling of a great story through the observations of an awesome young boy.

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