Okay For Now by Gary Schmidt (Clarion Books, 2011)
genre: Historical, realistic
ages: 10-14 years
honors: none, yet
review: Toughness runs in Doug’s family. It’s not wise to show weakness to his dad or his brother because that just ends up with him getting smacked. Doug just tries to stay out of their way while he finds his way among the people in his new home in upstate New York.
opinion: Watching Doug come away from his family’s shadow of doom was mesmerizing, because he was at a crossroad in his own life of being like his dad and brother or becoming his own person. With the help of an artistic librarian, Lil and other people in the town, he shows his family that he’s much tougher than they think... and that all of the birds belong together.
ideas: This book is set in 1968 and is ripe with history from that time including space missions, the New York Yankees and the Viet Nam war. With Doug’s brother coming home wounded from Viet Nam, readers could see the effects the war had on the soldiers as well as the families at home.
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