Okay For Now

Okay For Now by Gary D. Schmidt
Children's Literature

What a brilliant book. Perfection in a children's book. This is a companion novel to The Wednesday Wars--which was also brilliant.

Doug Swieteck, a character in The Wednesday Wars, has moved to Marysville, New York because his dad got a job. Doug is the youngest of three boys. Their father is horrible and abusive and his long-suffering mother has a smile that makes you want to melt. On one of his first days in the new town, Doug happens upon the library. On the second floor he finds a big book of Audubon's bird drawings in a glass display case. Every Saturday from then on out he goes to the library and Mr. Powell, the librarian, gives him drawing lessons. It is his growing love of Audubon's birds and his emerging drawing skills which frame the novel and give it structure. Things are not easy for Doug-- Christopher, his next older brother is pretty mean and well on his way to becoming a thug like their dad, because that's what everyone seems to expect of him. Lucas comes home from Vietnam without any legs, but with plenty of despair. And then, of course, there is his dad. But Doug is not a quitter and with the help of some pretty great adults, he triumphs.

A beautiful book. It is, however, the kind of book that might appeal more to adult readers of children's literature than to children. Well--some children will love it.