Okay for Now

GARY D. SCHMIDT

One of the best YA books I've read so far this year. Schmidt has crafted a hilarious, genuine, and touching story that had me laughing and crying in turn throughout the novel. Okay For Now is the story of 14 year-old Doug Swieteck, whose sorry excuse for a father moves the family from the city to small-town Marysville, New York. There, Doug meets Lil Spicer, smart daughter of the town grocer, and must deal with prejudice at school thanks to his older brother's hoodlum reputation. Then his oldest brother, Lucas, returns home from Vietnam in a wheelchair, and the family must learn to adjust. Schmidt weaves James Audubon's famous bird paintings, Broadway shows, Jane Eyre, Yankees baseball players, the Apollo 11 moon landing, the Vietnam war, horseshoes, and other seemingly-disparate elements into a seamless narrative that, coupled with Doug's distinct, believable voice, makes it a must-read. I'm not lying.

MORE CRYING FOREVER, JFC

I wasn't sure what it meant that this was in the same “world” as The Wednesday Wars, since it's not like the Wednesday Wars was sci-fi or anything, but the protagonist of this was a minor character in the Wednesday Wars whose family moved to another town, so there aren't any other overlaps with The Wednesday Wars. Just FYI.

Anyway this book had about a million plot elements that would have been horrible cliches in the hands of a lesser author (abusive father, wise old librarian who teaches Doug about art, wise old rich man who teaches Doug to play horseshoes, grumpy rich lady who turns out to have a heart of gold, traumatized Vietnam vet older brother, ETC) but they're in the hands of a great author and they will just make you cry for sadness and then for the beauty of the human existence and then maybe for sadness a little bit more. Also it's funny? Anyway you should read it.

Fall 2012 edit: I reread this one over the summer for middle school book club. Second reading was even better than the first. I am going to carry this book in my heart forever and ever (in the most melodramatic way possible). Sad to say middle schoolers were not as enthused as I am.

This is the first truly excellent book I've read in a while. I love everything about it. At first, I was filled with righteous indignation over its Newbery loss, but I'll reserve judgment until I read this year's winner, which is on my shelf about two books down the list of next-reads.

Doug Swieteck is a 1960s teenager with an abusive father, a penchant for drawing, and a brother with a reputation that precedes him. After his family's big move to Marysville, NY, Doug struggles to find a foothold in his new habitat. He finds it in the library (of course I would love that) looking at Audubon's birds. He finds it in the friendship of Lil Spicer. And he finds it in the solace of baseball stats. I'd like to say adventures ensue, but truthfully, Doug never has any adventures. He has an ordinary life that becomes extraordinary through Schmidt's expert storytelling.

This one is not to be missed.