Review: Okay for Now by Gary D. Schmidt

Okay for Now by Gary D. Schmidt. A Companion to The Wednesday Wars.

Sandpiper
Publication Date: April 2011
List Price: $6.99
ISBN-13: 9780544022805

Review: Doug Swieteck's life is a mess. Doug's brother beat him up and stole his most prized possession; a baseball hat autographed by his idol, Yankee's slugger, Joe Pepitone. Doug's dad is fired because he tried to punch his boss, forcing them to move to a new city to get a new job. In Okay For Now Gary Schmidt paints a picture of life with new meaning.

When Doug arrives in Marysville, he spends time at the library to escape his family. Doug is mesmerized when he first sets his sights on the Arctic Tern, a drawing in John James Audubon's Birds of America book. Mr. Powell, a librarian, informs Doug that the town has auctioned off drawings from Birds of America to raise money to pay various bills. Doug becomes a man on a mission to recover the drawings taken from the book.

I rate Okay For Now a 4.5 stars out of 5 for several reasons. To start, I can relate to some of Doug's situations. Also, Doug has determination because he does everything in his power to get back the missing pages. Finally, Doug repairs some of his family's relationships, especially his and his brother's. Doug thought leaving his friends to move to Marysville would be negative, he even called it "The Dump," but Doug seems happier in the end than the beginning.

Review written by Ian (6th grade student).

We would like to thank Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Children's Book Group for providing a copy of Okay for Now for this review.

Have you read Okay for Now? How would you rate it?