Okay for Now: A National Book Award Winner

By Gary D. Schmidt

2011 National Book Award FinalistAs a fourteen-year-old who just moved to a new town, with no friends and a louse for an older brother, Doug Swieteck has all the stats stacked against him. So begins a coming-of-age masterwork full of equal parts comedy and tragedy from Newbery Honor winner Gary D. Schmidt. As Doug struggles to be more than the “skinny thug” that his teachers and the police think him to be, he finds an unlikely ally in Lil Spicer—a fiery young lady who “smelled like daisies would smell if they were growing in a big field under a clearing sky after a rain.” In Lil, Doug finds the strength to endure an abusive father, the suspicions of a whole town, and the return of his oldest brother, forever scarred, from Vietnam. Together, they find a safe haven in the local library, inspiration in learning about the plates of John James Audubon’s birds, and a hilarious adventure on a Broadway stage. In this stunning novel, Schmidt expertly weaves multiple themes of loss and recovery in a story teeming with distinctive, unusual characters and invaluable lessons about love, creativity, and survival.

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Release date: Apr 5, 2011
• ISBN: 9780547534176

Gary D. Schmidt

Gary D. Schmidt is the bestselling author of The Labors of Hercules Beal; Just Like That; National Book Award finalist Okay for Now; Pay Attention, Carter Jones; Orbiting Jupiter; the Newbery Honor and Printz Honor Book Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy; and the Newbery Honor Book The Wednesday Wars. He is also contributor to and co-editor of the acclaimed short story collection A Little Bit Super, co-edited by Leah Henderson. He lives in rural Michigan.

Book preview

Copyright © 2011 by Gary D. Schmidt

All illustrations courtesy of The Audubon Society.

All rights reserved. Originally published in hardcover in the United States by Clarion Books, an imprint of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company, 2011.

For information about permission to reproduce selections from this book, write to [e-mail] or to Permissions, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company, 3 Park Avenue, 19th Floor, New York, New York 10016.

hmhbooks.com

Cover illustration © 2020 by James Lancett

Cover design by Sharismar Rodriguez and Opal Roengchai

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available:

Library of Congress Control Number: 2010942981

ISBN 978-0-547-15260-8 hardcover

ISBN 978-0-544-02280-5 paperback

eISBN 978-0-547-53417-6

v6.0320

Version 07072023

My dear Anne,

all of these pages are for you—

except a few of them.

Those are for Mark Hutchins, of New Portland Hill, Maine.

You’ll know which ones are his.

But the rest are all yours,

because I love you.

CHAPTER ONE

---

The Arctic Tern

Plate CCL

JOE PEPITONE once gave me his New York Yankees baseball cap.

I’m not lying.

He gave it to me. To me, Doug Swieteck. To me.

Joe Pepitone and Horace Clarke came all the way out on the Island to Camillo Junior High and I threw with them. Me and Danny Hupfer and Holling Hoodhood, who were good guys. We all threw with Joe Pepitone and Horace Clarke, and we batted too. They sang to us while we swung away: He’s a batta, he’s a batta-batta-batta, he’s a batta . . . That was their song.

And afterward, Horace Clarke gave Danny his cap, and Joe Pepitone gave Holling his jacket (probably because he felt sorry for him on account of his dumb name), and then Joe Pepitone handed me his cap. He reached out and took it off his head and handed it to me. Just like that. It was signed on the inside, so anyone could tell that it was really his. Joe Pepitone’s.

It was the only thing I ever owned that hadn’t belonged to some other Swieteck before me.

I hid it for four and a half months. Then my stupid brother found out about it. He came in at night when I was asleep and whipped my arm up behind my back so high I couldn’t even scream it hurt so bad and he told me to decide if I wanted a broken arm or if I wanted to give him Joe Pepitone’s baseball cap. I decided on the broken arm. Then he stuck his knee in the center of my spine and asked if I wanted a broken back along with the broken arm, and so I told him Joe Pepitone’s cap was in the basement behind the oil furnace.

It wasn’t, but he went downstairs anyway. That’s what a chump he is.

So I threw on a T-shirt and shorts and Joe Pepitone’s cap—which was under my pillow the whole time, the jerk—and got outside. Except he caught me. Dragged me behind the garage. Took Joe Pepitone’s baseball cap. Pummeled me in places where the bruises wouldn’t show.

A strategy that my . . . is none of your business.

I think he kept the cap for ten hours—just long enough for me to see him with it at school. Then he traded it to Link Vitelli for cigarettes, and Link Vitelli kept it for a day—just long enough for me to see him with it at school. Then Link traded it to Glenn Dillard for a comb. A comb! And Glenn Dillard kept it for a day—just long enough for me to see him with it at school. Then Glenn lost it while driving his brother’s Mustang without a license and with the top down, the jerk. It blew off somewhere on Jerusalem Avenue. I looked for it for a week.

I guess now it’s in a gutter, getting rained on or something. Probably anyone who walks by looks down and thinks it’s a piece of junk.

They’re right. That’s all it is. Now.

But once, it was the only thing I ever owned that hadn’t belonged to some other Swieteck before me.

I know. That means a big fat zero to anyone else.

I tried to talk to my father about it. But it was a wrong day. Most days are wrong days. Most days he comes home red-faced with his eyes half closed and with that deadly silence that lets you know he’d have a whole lot to say if he ever let himself get started and no one better get him started because there’s no telling when he’ll stop and if he ever did get started then pretty Mr. Culross at freaking Culross Lumber better not be the one to get him started because he’d punch pretty Mr. Culross’s freaking lights out and he didn’t care if he did lose his job over it because it’s a lousy job anyway.

That was my father not letting himself get started.

But I had a plan.

All I had to do was get my father to take me to Yankee Stadium. That’s all. If I could just see Joe Pepitone one more time. If I could just tell him what happened to my baseball cap. He’d look at me, and he’d laugh and rough up my hair, and then he’d take off his cap and he’d put it on my head. Here, Doug, Joe Pepitone would say. Like that. Here, Doug. You look a whole lot better in it than I do. That’s what Joe Pepitone would say. Because that’s the kind of guy he is.

That was the plan. And all I had to do was get my father to listen.

But I picked a wrong day. Because there aren’t any right days.

And my father said, Are you crazy? Are you freaking crazy? I work forty-five hours a week to put food on the table for you, and you want me to take you to Yankee Stadium because you lost some lousy baseball cap?

It’s not just some lousy—

That’s all I got out. My father’s hands are quick. That’s the kind of guy he is.

Who knows how much my father got out the day he finally let himself get started saying what he wanted to say to pretty Mr. Culross and didn’t even try to stop himself from saying it. But whatever he said, he came home with a pretty good shiner, because pretty Mr. Culross turned out to have hands even quicker than my father’s.

And pretty Mr. Culross had one other advantage: he could fire my father if he wanted to.

So my father came home with his lunch pail in his hand and a bandage on his face and the last check he would ever see from Culross Lumber, Inc., and he looked at my mother and said, Don’t you say a thing, and he looked at me and said, Still worried about a lousy baseball cap? and he went upstairs and started making phone calls.

Mom kept us in the kitchen.

He came down when we were finishing supper, and Mom jumped up from the table and brought over the plate she’d been keeping warm in the oven. She set it down in front of him.

It’s not all dried out, is it? he said.

I don’t think so, Mom said.

You don’t think so, he said, then took off the aluminum foil, sighed, and reached for the ketchup. He smeared it all over his meat loaf. Thick.

Took a red bite.

We’re moving, he said.

Chewed.

Moving? said my mother.

To Marysville. Upstate. Another red bite. Chewing. Ballard Paper Mill has a job, and Ernie Eco says he can get me in.

Ernie Eco, said my mother quietly.

Don’t you start about him, said my father.

So it will begin all over again.

I said—

The bars, being gone all night, coming back home when you’re—

My father stood up.

Which of your sons will it be this time? my mother said.

My father looked at me.

I put my eyes down and worked at what was left of my meat loaf.

---

It took us three days to pack. My mother didn’t talk much the whole time. The first morning, she asked only two questions.

How are we going to let Lucas know where we’ve gone?

Lucas is my oldest brother who stopped beating me up a year and a half ago when the United States Army drafted him to beat up Vietcong instead. He’s in a delta somewhere but we don’t know any more than that because he isn’t allowed to tell us and he doesn’t write home much anyway. Fine by me.

My father looked up from his two fried eggs. How are we going to let Lucas know where we’ve gone? The U.S. Postal Service, he said in that kind of voice that makes you feel like you are the dope of the world. And didn’t I tell you over easy? He pushed the plate of eggs away, picked up his mug of coffee, and looked out the window. I’m not going to miss this freaking place, he said.

Then, Are you going to rent a truck? my mother asked, real quiet.

My father sipped his coffee. Sipped again.

Ernie Eco will be down with a truck from the mill, he said.

My mother didn’t ask anything else.

My father brought home boxes from the A&P on one of those summer days when the sky is too hot to be blue and all it can work up is a hazy white. Everything is sweating, and you’re thinking that if you were up in the top—I mean, the really top—stands in Yankee Stadium, there might be a breeze, but probably there isn’t one anywhere else. My father gave me a box that still smelled like the bananas it brought up from somewhere that speaks Spanish and told me to put in whatever I had and I should throw out anything I couldn’t get in it. I did—except for Joe Pepitone’s cap because it’s lying in a gutter getting rained on, which you might remember if you cared.

So what? So what? I’m glad we’re going.

After the first day of packing, the house was a wreck. Open boxes everywhere, with all sorts of stuff thrown in. My mother tried to stick on labels and keep everything organized—like all the kitchen stuff in the boxes in the kitchen, and all the sheets and pillowcases and towels in the boxes by the linen closet upstairs, and all the sturdiest boxes by the downstairs door for my father’s tools and junk. But after he filled the boxes by the downstairs door, he started to load stuff in with the dishes, stuff like screwdrivers and wrenches and a vise that he dropped on a stack of plates, and he didn’t even turn around to look when he heard them shatter. But my mother did. She lifted out the pieces she had wrapped in newspaper, and for a moment she held them close to her. Then she dropped them back in the box like they were garbage, because that’s all they were now. Garbage.

Like Joe Pepitone’s cap.

On the third day, Ernie Eco came down with the truck, and me and my brother and Ernie Eco and my father loaded the beds and the couch and the table and chairs—the stove and the refrigerator belonged to the guy we rented the house from. After that we loaded all the boxes. My mother had dug up the garden she’d worked on and put the plants into pots and watered them for the trip, but Ernie Eco said there wasn’t any room for them and even if there were he might have to make a quick turn and they’d flip over and get the truck all dirty and so my father said to leave them and we should all get in the car since we were ready to go.

Not yet, my mother said.

We all looked at her, kind of startled.

She went back to the pots, all lined up on the front porch, and she took three in her arms and carried them to the McCall house next door. Then she came back, took up another three, and carried them across the street to the Petronis. When she came back again, I started up to the porch to help but my father smacked me on the shoulder. If she wants to do it, let her do it herself, he said. Ernie Eco laughed, the jerk.

So my mother carried all the pots, three by three, and put them by houses up and down the street. People started coming out on their stoops and they’d take the pots from her and put them down and they’d hug my mother and then she’d turn away.

So that’s what I was doing—watching my mother give away her plants—when Holling Hoodhood came up the street carrying a brown paper bag. I’d never seen him on this side of town before.

He waved. Hey, Doug, he said.

Hey, I said.

Mr. Swieteck.

My father nodded. He watched my mother. He wanted to get going.

A minute passed. My mother was back up on the porch, gathering another armload.

I heard you were moving, said Holling.

You heard right, I said.

He nodded. No eighth grade at Camillo Junior High.

I guess not.

He nodded again.

Another minute passing.

So, he said, I brought you something to remember us by. He held up the bag and I took it. It wasn’t heavy.

Thanks, I said.

Another minute.

Where are you moving?

Marysville.

Oh, said Holling. He nodded like he’d heard of it, which he hadn’t since no one has ever heard of it unless he lives there, which hardly anyone does. Marysville.

In the Catskills, I said.

He nodded. It’ll be cooler up in the mountains.

I nodded. Maybe.

He rubbed his hands together.

You take care of yourself, Doug, he said.

Say hi to everyone for me, I said.

I will.

He held out his hand. I took it. We shook.

So long, Doug.

So long.

And he turned, walked across the street, said hi to my mother. She handed him one of her plants. He took it, and then he was gone. Like that.

Go get in the car, said my father.

I went over to the car, but before I got in, I opened up Holling’s brown paper bag and took out what was inside. A jacket. A New York Yankees jacket. I looked at the signature on the inside of the collar. You know whose jacket this was, right?

I put it on. I didn’t care how white the sky was, or how much the whole world was sweating. It felt like the breezes on the top stands of Yankee Stadium.

What a stupid thing to give you in the summer, said my father.

I zipped up the jacket.

Get in the freaking car!

Didn’t I tell you that Holling Hoodhood is a good guy?

---

When we got to Marysville, around noon, we found the house that Ernie Eco had set up for us past the Ballard Paper Mill, past the railroad yard, and past the back of a bunch of stores and an old bar that looked like no one who went in there went in happy. The house was smaller than the one we’d had, so I had to room with my brother still—and there wasn’t a bedroom for Lucas if he came home. My brother said he’d sleep on a couch in the living room at night so he didn’t have to room with a puke, but my father said he didn’t want him hanging around like he owned the place or something. So he moved his stuff up with me.

Terrific.

The first thing I had to do was find a place to hide the jacket, which my brother didn’t know was Joe Pepitone’s. If he had known, he’d have ripped it off me before we’d crossed the Throgs Neck Bridge. But he would find out. He always found out. So I kept it on, even though Holling Hoodhood was wrong and it was just as hot in Marysville as on Long Island and I was melting inside so bad that I was afraid I’d sweat Joe Pepitone’s signature off.

My father said he was going with Ernie Eco to the Ballard Paper Mill to sign some forms so he could begin work on Monday, and my mother said she didn’t think the Ballard Paper Mill would be open today, on a Saturday, and my father said what did she know about anything and left with Ernie Eco. So my brother and I carried all the furniture in, and I carried all the boxes in, except my mother told me to leave the kitchen boxes on the truck until she got the kitchen clean enough so a human being could eat in there without getting sick—which she hadn’t finished doing by the time my father got home.

It turned out to be one of the wrong days. Again. Of course. My father couldn’t figure out why my mother hadn’t gotten the kitchen ready. He couldn’t figure out why we hadn’t gotten the kitchen boxes off the truck. He couldn’t figure out why my mother hadn’t gotten groceries yet. All she had to do was walk over to Spicer’s Deli! He couldn’t figure out why there wasn’t food on the table for lunch. She had time enough to get the crucifix up in the hall, but she didn’t have time enough to make a couple of sandwiches? It was already two o’clock! And he really couldn’t figure out why Mr. Big Bucks Ballard was only going to give him a salary that was barely half of what Ernie Eco had promised.

I told him we didn’t have lunch yet because how were we supposed to know where Spicer’s Deli was and he had taken the car anyway and Mom had to clean up the kitchen because he sure wouldn’t have wanted to eat in this dump before she did that.

My father turned to look at me, and then his hand flashed out.

He has quick hands, like I told you.

Why don’t you just stay here in your new jacket and get those boxes off the truck and into the nice, clean kitchen while we go out to find a diner? he said. He told my mother to go get in the car, and my brother too—who smirked and swung like he was going to hit my other eye—and then they were gone, and I was left alone in The Dump.

I went down to the basement and looked around. There was only a single light bulb hanging, and it shone maybe fifteen watts. Maybe ten. A huge octopus of a furnace reached across most of the ceiling, and cobwebs hung on its tentacles, drifting up when I walked beneath them. Under the stairs it was open and dry and dark—a few old paint cans piled on top of each other, a couple of broken window frames, something dead that once had fur. I looked around and found a nail—you can always find a nail in an old basement—and hammered it in behind one of the stairs. That’s where I hung Joe Pepitone’s jacket.

Then I got those boxes off the truck.

And after that, I went out to explore the great metropolis of Marysville, New York.

Terrific.

---

Here are the stats for stupid Marysville:

Eight beat-up stores and a bar out front of where we were living.

Four blocks of houses as tiny and beat up as ours.

Twelve blocks of houses that had grass out front, a lot with bikes lying on their lawns like their kids were too stupid to know that anyone could walk off with them.

Big trees along all the streets.

Eighteen houses with flags outside.

Twenty-four sprinklers going.

Fourteen people out on the stoops, sitting around because there wasn’t any boring thing else to do in boring Marysville. Two who waved at me. One with a transistor radio on—except it was the stupid Mets and not the Yankees.

Two dogs asleep on their porches. One barked. One looked like it was too hot to think of chasing me, even though he knew I didn’t belong.

A girl rode by on a bike with a basket on the handlebars. She looked at me like the dogs did, and then went on. Probably she knew I didn’t belong too.

I hate this town.

I hate that we had to come here.

I decided to take a left, then go back to The Dump along another block so people didn’t think I was lost or something. And so I turned the corner and looked down the street. There was the girl again, putting her bike in a rack and getting ready to head up into this brick building that was trying to look a whole lot more important than it should because no matter how important it looked it was still in stupid Marysville.

I crossed the street like I’d done it a million times before. It was shadowy under the maples in front of the building.

The girl saw me coming. She reached into the basket and pulled out a chain with pink plastic all around it. She looped it around the bike and the rack and clicked it all together and spun the combination lock before I had crossed the curb. Then she looked up.

I pointed to the chain. Is that because of me? I said.

Should it be? she said.

I looked over the bike. Not for this piece of junk, I said. And if it wasn’t a piece of junk and I did want it, a pink chain wouldn’t stop me.

She turned and picked up the books from the basket. Is there something you do want?

Not in this town.

Her eyes narrowed. She held her books close to her—like my mother with her plants. And then I knew something.

This is what I knew: I was sounding like Lucas when he was being the biggest jerk he could be, which was usually just before he beat me up.

I was sounding like Lucas.

You must have just moved here, she said.

I decided I wouldn’t be Lucas.

A few hours ago, I said. I put my hands in my pockets and sort of leaned back into the air. Cool and casual.

But I was too late.

That’s a shame, she said. But maybe you’ll get run over and I won’t have to chain my bike anymore. Now I’m going up into the library. She started to talk really slow. A library is a place where they keep books. You probably have never been in one. She pointed to the street. Go over there and walk down the broken white line with your eyes closed, and we’ll see what happens.

I’ve been in plenty of libraries before, I said.

She smiled—and it wasn’t the kind of smile that said I love you—and she skipped up the six marble steps toward the marble entrance. You know how much I was hoping she would trip on the top step and scatter her books everywhere and she’d look at me like I had to come help her and I wouldn’t but maybe I would?

But she didn’t trip. She went in.

And so what if I’ve never been in a library before? So what? I could have gone into any library I wanted to, if I wanted to. But I never did, because I didn’t want to. You think she’s been to Yankee Stadium like I have? You think Joe Pepitone’s jacket is hanging up in her basement?

I climbed the six steps—and she didn’t see me trip on the top one, so it didn’t matter. I pushed open the glass door and went in.

It was dark inside. And cool. And quiet. And maybe stupid Marysville was a dump, but this place wasn’t. The marble outside led to marble inside, and when you walked, your footsteps echoed, even if you had sneakers on. People were sitting around long tables with green-shaded lamps, reading newspapers and magazines. Past the tables was a desk where a woman with her glasses on a chain looped around her neck was working as if she didn’t know how dumb glasses look when you’ve got them on a chain looped around your neck. And past her started the shelves, where I figured the stuck-up girl with the bike was, picking out a new stack of books to put into her basket and

Reviews for Okay for Now

[reader1009-863136 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

teen fiction. Of the 4 mock-newbery contestants I've read (for 2012) so far, this is my favorite, though it's too bad the cover inspires nothing. The ending is wrapped up a bit too neatly (alcoholic father redeems himself, shell-shocked Vietnam-vet brother who formerly tormented his younger brothers now enjoys life again, main character succeeds in school despite not being able to read only months prior, PE teacher stops picking on him, and girlfriend/love interest just may survive whatever terrible disease she's been mysteriously struck with). That said, all of the things said about Gary Schmidt are true--he does capture the boy's sentiments perfectly, without overstatement.

[fingerpost_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This one made me cry because I was sad, and cry because I was happy. Do you know what it feels like to read a book like that?Doug Swieteck's family moves to stupid Maryville, New York, where he expects life to be terrible. His father is abusive, his slightly older brother is a borderline delinquent, and his oldest brother is fighting in Vietnam. Doug expects life in Maryville to be hell. And there are certainly some people who seem intent on making it hell for him. His PE coach definitely has it in for him. The principal of the middle school assumes the worst about him at all times. One of the town's two librarians has no use for him.But then, the other of the town's two librarians spontaneously decides to give Doug art lessons, entirely based on the works of John James Audubon, and Doug finds that he loves it. And a cranky old playwright who he delivers groceries to takes to him in surprising ways. And perhaps most of all, Lil Spicer, the first person he really meets in town, sees everything in him that most people don't.It is a beautiful story of family, friendship, art, dedication, doing the right thing, and first love, and Schmidt hits every single one of those notes exactly right.

[fromthecomfychair · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A genuinely touching coming-of-age story. Doug is a 7th grader, whose father is an abusive alcoholic, but whose mother is a nurturing parent. When the father loses his job, he moves the family to upstate New York where he has a new job in a paper mill. Initially Doug hates Marysville, but as time goes on, he discovers things to like about it, including a girl named Lil who helps him in many ways, including getting him a job delivering groceries. Doug has to work on his attitude, which he has learned from the men in his family, through trial and error. He also meets a librarian who teaches him to draw after he finds a book of Audubon birds in the library. It's surprising that Doug goes into the library at all, given that he has trouble reading. But it is the only place for him to go when he arrives in town in the summer before school starts. With the help of his literacy teacher, he finally does learn to read and his academic life starts to improve, along with his attitude. At home he has to contend with his drunken and truly mean father, as well as his delinquent older brother Chris. Doug has both difficult times, and encouraging times, in spite of his home life. There is one part of the plot that I found to be weirdly hard to believe and totally unnecessary to the story as a whole, and it has to do with a Broadway show that Doug and Lil become involved in. I think I would have given the story 5 stars without that part, which I found hard to believe anyway. But overall, a really wonderful story.

[kittyjay · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

In 1968, Doug Swieteck already has to face an abusive father, a bullying older brother, and another brother who is off fighting in Vietnam, so when his father loses his job and moves the family to Marysville, New York in search of work, Doug is suddenly also the new kid. But Marysville gives Doug the chance to become something more than a skinny thug like his older brother and his deadbeat dad. A chance meeting with a girl gives him a delivery route, where he meets the eccentric Mrs. Windemere, and trips to the library to see the Audubon paintings introduces him to the kind librarian Mr. Powell, who teaches Doug how to draw, and the start of a new school year introduces him to Mr. Ferris, a science teacher, who figures out Doug's big secret. And when Doug's brother, Lucas, comes home from Vietnam, Doug finds that he is no longer the same kid as when Lucas left - and that's not always a bad thing.

The Audubon connection is an odd one, but refreshing in its oddity. Each chapter is prefaced by a depiction of the painting which becomes the theme for that chapter. The sharp, minimalist drawings of Audubon match perfectly well to Doug's own sharp edges and outwardly simple character, and it is easy to see where the urge to replicate the beautiful plates comes from. The only complaint to be made about the bird theme is the way that Schmidt sometimes is a bit too "on the nose" with his symbols. One chapter begins with the Red-Throated Divers, and Mrs. Windemere a little too shrewdly comments that the mother is not aching to fly away, as Doug originally suggests, but protecting her smallest child. The analogy is a little too clear. Schmidt seems to be one of those writers who cannot bear to trust the reader to make the connection, and so must constantly nudge them until he is content they have gotten the point. This mistrust of the readers' abilities can also extend to the characterization. In one scene, Doug stands up to his father, but is later confronted by his brother, who delivers an impassioned speech that is a little too self-aware to be honestly moving. Particularly in young adult novels, authors sometimes feel reluctant to allow things to go unspoken, worried that their audience will miss it, but having faith in younger readers to pick up on the underlying themes and characters without the author expressly saying it can lead to a richer story. Schmidt's eagerness to spell things out also comes to play when balancing the realism of the novel.

Doug is a member of a poor family and his father is abusive, but the severity is mostly hinted around aside from one, major incident. Doug's reaction to it underscores its regularity - he knows how to avoid it, knows what will trigger it, and mostly acts like it is part of his life, which it is. Schmidt never falls into the trap of an afterschool special, but focuses on Doug, not just as a child abuse victim, but a fully-realized character with traits completely separated from the abuse. His smart-aleck comments are genuinely funny, his narration feels real, and his character arc is superb.

Unfortunately, Schmidt cannot quite hold onto this realism. About three-quarters into the book, the story rushes to reassure the reader that it will all work out in the end: the teachers and librarian who previously ostracized and tormented Doug for his shady brother all have secrets that excuse their bad behavior, or they experience a miraculous change of heart; Mrs. Windemere coincidentally happens to have a first-edition book of Aaron Copland's music that Doug uses to barter for the puffins plate; Mr. Gregory, a Broadway producer, happens to need an actress to play a part which happens to be perfect for Lil Spicer; Professor Peattie, who previously told Doug that all of the teachers had given up on him and he would amount to nothing, suddenly tells Doug that he will go wherever he wants to go in life; Lucas comes back from the war and finds a job when he most needs it; and, most damning, the father who forced a "Mama's Baby" tattoo on his twelve-year-old son and regularly beat his sons so as not to show bruises suddenly recants his ways and shares a sentimental moment with his wife.

There is a line of suspended disbelief that readers and authors agree upon; readers will happily approach the line, willing to take a great many far-fetched coincidences and quirky characters and miraculous events on faith, but the author must carefully know exactly where the line is to avoid crossing it completely. Schmidt, in this at least, has missed the mark. There is something to be said for a young boy realizing that the two-dimensional jerks he has previously assumed people to be are more than that, with their own rich inner lives, but when every single one turns out to be secretly a good person, it strains belief, and readers quite rightly balk. To put it simply, some people are jerks because they are jerks. They are not the bully in a 1980s film, who only bullies others because of the abuse he faces at home; they are jerks. In some ways, this is an even more important lesson to learn than that people have their own rich inner lives and may be secretly good, simply because it is a much harder one to learn. And in the case of a child abuser, his inner life must be very rich indeed to make up for such a heinous sin. Schmidt comes very close to pulling these unlikely turns of events off, but crosses one coincidence too many for the ending to feel genuine.

Additionally, the setting is in 1968, but aside from some obligatory references to space missions, a few ironic comments from oddly prescient teachers that were old when Back to the Future made them (An actor as a president? How absurd!), peppered slang from the sixties, and Lucas's return, the historical part of this historical fiction is never fully realized. Lucas returns from the Vietnam War, but could have just as easily returned from World War II, or Desert Storm, or the Iraq War. Though the connection of the possibility of space travel and all it represents with the way Doug blooms is a good one, there is never a moment of solidity that confirms that 1968 is the only time that this story could have taken place. In some ways, that speaks to the universality of the story, but in others, it makes the "history" part feel lacking. Historical novels are difficult to pull off, because while references to the time period and period-appropriate slang are essential to pulling off an atmosphere, they are not enough by themselves.

And yet, there is something here that deserves to be noticed. When Doug's mother meets Lucas at the bus station and does not hesitate over the bandages over his eyes or the space where his legs used to be, but just holds his face in her hands and kisses him while her blue coat spreads like wings over them, or when Doug finds a drawing of dead bodies with a simple note at the bottom saying, "My Lai. I was there", it's hard not to get a chill. It is in the small moments that Schmidt excels. There are too many neat ends, but where Schmidt allows them to be frayed and ragged, the prose shines. It is not in the neat and happy endings that Schmidt finds his place, but in the ones that are uncertain and bitter and angry. Giving his villains backstories and characterization and making them three-dimensional works, but only if he allows them to stay villains.

As a story, Okay for Now is compelling enough, though the plot threads are all a little too neatly tied up at the end to be believable; as historical fiction, it feels oddly lacking. Historical fiction should, ideally, capture the spirit and atmosphere of a time. Novels set during the Great Depression should hint at the desperation of the times, underscored by uncertainty; novels set during WWI should reflect the betrayal and horror and existential crisis that marked the time; and novels set in the 1960s should do more than parrot old jokes and bring in constant references to the space race and the Vietnam War, or at least have something more meaningful to say about them. Doug is a likable enough character, with real problems and real people in his life; had the story kept with that, Okay for Now could have made up for its lack of historical atmosphere. The too-tidy ending and urge to shield the reader from any possibility of bad things, particularly in a novel that deals with both child abuse and the Vietnam War, leaves this novel feeling a little flat.

[jothebookgirl · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Listen to the elements of this middle school novel:
John James Audubon’s Birds of America, an emotionally abusive father, a Vietnam veteran brother, the classic novel Jane Eyre, the New York Yankees, an eccentric playwright, a business executive who is both an expert at horseshoes as he is at cultivating orchids. Gary Schmidt has woven a story full of heartache and hope.

Doug Swieteck, has moved to Marysville in upstate New York, to a place he refers to as "The Dump."He shares a tiny room with his also abusive brother. Doug is the new kid on the block in a school where the kids have known each other since kindergarten. With the help of multiple friends and teachers, Doug is able to navigate the difficulties associated with 8th grade, and the increased tension at home. Doug discovers the public library and meets Mr. Powell who helps him with his newly developed artistic talent studying Audubon prints. After getting a job delivering grocers for Mr. Splicers deli, he develops a sweet relationship with Lil Spicer, his daughter.

This is a story about the rebuilding of a family, the strength of a young man, and the beauty of a friendship.

Reading this book and hearing the birds described gave me a greater appreciation for the art of John James Audubon.

[bell7_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Doug Swieteck is doing just fine until his father loses his job and decides to move them to Marysville, New York. Stupid Marysville is a small town where Doug knows no one, and everyone expects him to be a troublemaker. But then he meets Lil Spicer, and her dad gives him a job. Can he make his own way here, or is he doomed by his father and his brothers' shadows?Readers of The Wednesday Wars may remember Doug as the prankster Holling Hoodhood knew - but if you haven't read the first book, there's no need before diving into this one. Doug is a great character, the youngest of three boys and wanting to be his own person in the midst of a troubled home. His oldest brother Lucas is away at Vietnam, his brother Chris is a troublemaker and Doug just knows everyone judges him by his brothers' actions. His growth as a character was really fun to follow, and my only complaint was that a few items seemed just a little too neatly tied up - but it is a middle school novel, after all.

[cheryl_in_cc_nv · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Read Emily May's review.

I pretty much agree with her, but I think I found it a titch more melodramatic than she did.  I also am not sure I find everything in it plausible, even if we consider this a fable rather than realistic fiction.  But, it's engaging, accessible, literary (in a good way), intelligent, funny... and even though it's long and I started it past my bedtime, I couldn't put it down until I was done.  And then I still couldn't sleep, for thinking about it.  And days & books later I'm still thinking about it....

[jadedog13 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Touching realistic fiction story about a boy growing up in 1968. How the Vietnam war touches his family and how he learns that he can do whatever he wants, makes a very touching story. It has some sad moments but the ending is hopeful.

[mrsbarbarino · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I didn’t think I would have any interest in reading an entire book about Doug Swieteck, a minor character from Gary D. Schmidt’s The Wednesday Wars. Was I ever wrong! I have to say, this is the best book I’ve read in awhile. I laughed. I cried. I wanted to build a time machine, travel back to Marysville, circa 1968, and work with Mr. Powell at the Marysville Free Public Library. Oh, and hang out at Spicer’s Deli and drink a really cold coke.

You don’t have to read The Wednesday Wars first to appreciate Okay for Now. It stands on its own. However, if you read both, you may be reminded that there is often more to a person than what you first see on the surface.

After his father is fired, Doug Swieteck moves with his family to “stupid” Marysville, New York. Life at the Swieteck home is less than desirable. Doug’s father is a jerk. His mother he loves dearly, but she is unable to stand up for herself, let alone her boys. His oldest brother is serving in Vietnam, and his other brother is a bit of a hoodlum. No wonder everyone thinks Doug must be a “skinny thug” too.

Lil Spicer is his first new friend in Marysville. She arranges for Doug to work for her father who owns a deli, making deliveries to some of the folks in town. As he begins to interact with the people of Marysville (on his delivery route, at school, and of course, at the library!) he experiences kindness and friendship that he hadn’t expected or even hoped for.

There’s so much more that I could say about this book, but why not stop in the library and check it out for yourself! Also, if you want to know more about birds than you ever thought you’d care to know...this is the book for you.

[agnejakubauskaite · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

WHAT IT IS ABOUT:“Okay for Now” by Gary Schmidt is a heartwarming young adult historical novel centered around eighth grader Douglas Swieteck. After Doug’s abusive father loses his job, the whole family moves to Marysville in upstate New York. In the new town, Doug’s older brother is accused of robbery, and Doug himself is struggling to be more than just a “skinny thug” that some townsfolk believe him to be. However, things start to look different when Doug befriends Lil Spicer, the daughter of Spicer’s Deli’s owner, and discovers that the local library has a rare copy of John James Audubon’s book “Birds of America.”THUMBS UP:1) Thoughtful and moving.“Okay for Now” is a thoughtful and surprisingly moving story about connections between people in a cozy small-town community. In a subtle, “show, don’t tell” manner, Schmidt demonstrates us the need to understand where people are coming from before writing them off as well as the importance of helping each other to overcome struggles.2) Realistic and complex characters.Even though there are quite a few characters in this book, they ALL are very realistic and multidimensional, and throughout the book you can clearly see them growing (or most of them, anyways).3) The power of art.Each chapter begins with a black-and-white print from John James Audubon’s “Birds of America,” which are skillfully incorporated into the story. In the same “show, don’t tell” manner, Schmidt illustrates the power of art and creativity in dealing with bullying, violence, abuse, war scars and other struggles. Although it’s not a very novel idea, Schmidt conveys it masterfully.4) Engaging.“Okay for Now” is narrated from Doug’s point of view and is done so in a fun and an EXTREMELY engaging way. It truly feels like Doug is talking directly to you, asking you questions and even scolding you for not paying attention to what he is saying.5) Uplifting.Doug, just like any other teenage boy, occasionally lashes out and misbehaves, but essentially is a good-natured kid, and thus he views the world around him, even the most hostile situations, with a childlike innocence and optimism.COULD BE BETTER:1) Ugly cover.If possible, get the paperback edition of “Okay for Now,” because the cover of the hardcover is beyond off-putting.2) Unrealistic ending.The ending of the book is pleasing, but it seems a little bit too easy, too perfect and thus slightly unrealistic. However, the whole story is so well-crafted that even a lesser ending couldn’t spoil it.VERDICT: 4.5 OUT OF 5“Okay for Now” by Gary Schmidt is a thoughtful, uplifting and engaging young adult novel, full of realistic and complex characters. It emphasizes the importance of understanding and connections between people as well as the power of art and creativity in overcoming hardships. It’s one of those books that even an ugly cover or a slightly unrealistic ending cannot spoil.

[amrahmn · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Absolutely a new favorite book of mine! I loved how the author was able to weave so many elements into this story of Junior High student, Doug Swieteck. Moving, an abusive father, an older brother wounded in Vietnam, a lovely romance with a smart girl, learning to read, performing on Broadway, and cancer were woven tightly to make a "terrific" coming of age story. I would recommend this to all my higher level 5th grade readers!

[kelleyhar · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I'd read this again, I liked it so much! The way he talks about art and relates the birds to his own life was awesome.

[renee.brandon · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Couldn't put it down. Amazingly wonderful.

[mcorbink · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Doug is in middle school. If that isn't bad enough, he lives with an abusive Dad. It looks like his brothers are going to turn out just like their Dad. Unexpected events, a strong main character, and Doug's new friend Lil Spicer help to bring 7th grade to a better ending than beginning. A "must read."

[msmthom · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I loved the way that he interweaved Audubon's paintings into the story and made them the foundation and reference point for all the metaphors. The characters were sufficiently complex and likable. I felt myself developing a STRONG dislike for his father in the first couple of chapters and I could really visualize the scene where his mom is delivering all her plants to the neighbors before they move and his dad won't let Doug help. I wanted to scream!!

[sebastianhagelstein · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

One good thing about this book is that it included many of the things going in during that time - 1968. Schmidt references the space program, the Vietnam War, baseball, and other facts that place the story in that time.My only complaint is how the mood of the story - and the mood of Doug, the main character - changes frequently. From dark to bright and back.

[tahleen · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Oh, this book. It was just wonderful. I'm a little surprised that it won an Odyssey Honor because there was nothing amazing about the narration, but it definitely deserves the Newbery Honor it got. The narration was good, don't get me wrong, just not up to par with what I've experienced with Odyssey winners before.

Anyway, this audiobook made me tear up a few times and laugh at others, and it was just really good. Highly recommended.

[silverkitty-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Okay for Now is the story of Doug Swieteck, a young teen with a messed up family. At the start of the book Doug’s father gets fired from his job and the family is moving to another, smaller town. Doug’s brother is in Viet Nam, Doug’s father beats on his family when he has a bad day, and Doug’s brother beats on him when he has a bad day. Doug has a difficult time breaking in to the social life of this small town. The town doesn’t exactly take him in. But he manages to get a job, fall in love with an Audubon book and learn how to draw, and he ends up with a girl friend who is truly nice. Through his experiences he grows and gets more of an opportunity in life than he would have otherwise. Several adults in the small town each recognize one strength in him and help him grow that strength. For me it was ultimately a story of how caring adults can influence a child who might not otherwise prosper. I loved that Doug got help learning to read and it was done in a way to allow him to save face. I also liked that each chapter was titled after a bird in the Audubon book.I’m not a huge fan of current YA fiction – much of it is way too dark - and was prepared to dislike this book. But surprise! I really liked it. One of the more amusing parts of the book, that I think will be lost on most teens, was the naming of the Daugherty children after the children in The Five Little Peppers. I even had to look this up to be sure, but how many girls are named Phronsie? I’ve never met even one.

[publiusdb-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The year’s not over yet, but Okay for Now will probably go down as the best book I will read this year, if not in the several years.I’m not lying. It’s terrific, and I hope you will read it.By the time I finished Okay for Now, I had read almost forty books this year. A large number of them were geared towards teens, especially boys. On list of novels aimed at teen boys that I’ve read this year, there is James Dashner‘s gripping tale The Maze Runner, Brandon Mull‘s ever creative A World Without Heroes and Brandon Sanderson‘s innovative The Rithmatist, each excellent in their own right. And Robison Wells‘ Variant kept me turning pages late into the night, as did David Farland‘s Nightingale.Of all of them, though, none was more satisfying, fulfilling and memorable than Gary Schmidt‘s follow-up to The Wednesday Wars. Picking up right after the end of the adventures of Holling Hoodhood, Okay For Now takes the perspective of Doug Swieteck, Hoodhood’s friend and little brother to Hoodhood’s bully. When a job change takes them to “stupid Marysville,” Doug finds himself an unlikely friend in the Hermione-like Lil Spicer, daughter of the local deli owner. Over the course of his eight-grade year, Doug will overcome prejudices, his own shortcomings, make new friends and mentors, and learn that his destiny is in his own hands.That all sounds so stereotypical and mundane, like what could be written on the back of almost any young adult novel. Believe me, then, when I say that there’s nothing stereotypical or mundane about Doug’s story. As he would say, “I’m not lying.” Schmidt has a talent for making scenes equally humorous and tragic, and he cleverly and subtly uses language to show and tell who and what is on the up and up with Doug and what is not.“You know how that feels?” is a common phrase, something of a stage aside when Doug wants to accentuate his response to the situation, whether negative or positive. I found it clever that Doug would change then names of things subtly and without comment as their standing would change. For example, Christopher, Doug’s brother and the bully from The Wednesday Wars begins the book as “my brother,” but after an act of redemption becomes Christopher. Other labels that Doug uses with derision early in the book change, in connotation, as events unfold. In addition, Schmidt uses the imagery of art and Audubon’s collection of bird paintings to bring out and describe Doug’s experiences and growth.It’s beautiful.Another reason I loved–yes, I loved it–Okay For Now is for its unique and deep demonstration of the bonds between males, the things that strengthen them, as well as the things that weaken them. Looking at both of the books, it’s not hard to wonder if Schmidt has a soft spot in his heart for mothers and high standards for fathers, standards that he seems to think fathers don’t always live up to. Though the novels are certainly full of traditional families with loving and honorable fathers–the book takes place in the late 1960s, so the traditional family is certainly still at the forefront in society–both the Hoodhood and Swieteck families are headed by less than satisfactory fathers at the outset, causing a major source of conflict for both Doug and Holling.Not only is his relationship with his father, and how his father’s relationship with his mother, a major focus of the story, but so are the relationships between Doug and his brothers, including Christopher who I mentioned earlier, and Lucas who comes home from Vietnam. Also important to Doug’s progress are relationships he develops with various other adults in the community, including teachers, librarians, and one eccentric playwright.Okay For Now is a beautiful story about a boy, and it’s a story that will resonate with anyone, whether they remember what it was like to be 15 or not. With my own eight grade year now nearly two decades in the rear view mirror, reading Okay For Now took me back, reminding me of the growth and awkwardness of that tumultuous year and inspiring me to be more careful in my relationships. It made me feel–pain, sadness, happiness, and excitement–all the emotions across the range and return to the joys and experiences of youth transitioning to adulthood.The year’s not over yet, but Okay For Now will probably go down as the best book I will read this year, if not in the several years.I’m not lying. It’s terrific, and I hope you will read it.

[smheatherly2 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Amazing novel, with great voice, following how a family copes with an abusive father. Doug has just been moved to a new, small town where he knows no one. His brother seems to be following in his father's bad choice footsteps and he slowly makes friends and makes neighbors see that he is not like his dad and brother. His brother is also in Vietnam, which leaves the family nervous for the aftermath.

[mmesullivan · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Okay for Now by Gary D. Schmidt is about a coming of age story about a skinny thug name Doug Swieteck. Doug has the misfortune to be born on the wrong side of the tracks and live in a house with an abusive father, a jeuvinila delinquent brother. This a story about resilliancy in the face of poverty.

[snukes-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This book is, by far, the best book I've read in recent memory. (And by recent, I mean years.) It was so good, I cried a little when it was over. I'm not lying. Everything was right about it - the voice, the metaphors, the setting. I haven't read any other books by Gary Schmidt, but I'll be looking for them.

Recommended by: Lindsay R.

[jmoncton_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Gary Schmidt's The Wednesday Wars made my Favorite of 2007 list, so I was eagerly anticipating the sequel Okay for Now. I received an Advanced Reader's Copy of this book, but I was hesitant to start it. How often do sequels for great books live up to the original? Well no disappointment here! Doug Swieteck, who plays a minor role in The Wednesday Wars is the main character of this story. At the start of this story, Doug's family is moving to a new town after his father's temper results in being fired from his job. The Swietecks move into a small house in Marysville, NY where Doug's father has found a job at the local paper mill. Doug's life in the new town is difficult. His father has a mean temper, his second brother has a reputation as a troublemaker, and his oldest brother is fighting in Vietnam. But gradually, Doug creates a life in Marysville by working as a delivery boy at the local store and befriending Lil Spicer, the spunky daughter of his boss. The story is funny and poignant, both good for laughs and tears. Although it is categorized as middle school level - I loved it and it has wide appeal. And 'I'm not lying.'

[casabooks · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Lots of Plot!
and "Okay" reading.
Dysfunctional family - that's for certain.
Unexpected history and info on Audubon bird art.
Won't look at any of those paintings without seeing the nuance and depth of the art portrayed.
Written by Grand Rapids, MI author.

[paakre-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Gary Schmidt creates characters you want to live with. Beset by difficulties, they get the strength to overcome them.

Doug Sweiback has a dad who is a stinker. Once he quits his job, and follows his no good friend to a lumber mill up in Marysville NY, upstate, the family is uprooted to a rundown house Doug refers to as the Dump. It is definitely on the wrong side of the tracks.

The good side of the tracks is inhabited by people like the owners of the lumber mill, and a playwright, and the owners of the grocery store where Doug gets a job as a delivery boy.

To the playwright who orders a different kind of ice cream every week, Doug remains only "skinny delivery boy," but somehow coming from her, it can sound like a term of endearment. Doug has a relationship with his mother that is every good. He loves to see her smile. Doug's older brother, Christopher, however, is another story. Christopher is suspected of being a thief and worse, which makes up the mystery portion of the novel. Even though the resolution of the mystery comes as a relief, it is not completely satisfying or adequately explained to be believable.

Doug's most winning quality is his tenacity. He overcomes illiteracy, beatings, and the loss of his beloved Joe Pepitone baseball cap. Not only does he prove to be capable of learning to read, he holds three or four jobs at once, on Saturdays, while learning to draw forma set of John James Audubon prints on display in the library. It is in the library that he meets Lil Spicer, daughter of the grocers and it is Lil who sets him on the right path.

This book has a ton of plot, all of it rooted in the late 1960s as NASA prepares for its moon landing. It is completely charming and moving and funny and lots of other things besides. Students who like realistic fiction should treasure it.

[kristysp · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Throughout most of my reading experience of this book, I really loved it. The characters, the story, the wonderful voice of the narrator -- all seemed authentic and moving. But one of the things I liked about this author's early work is how he featured grown ups who were mean and remained mean and unredeemable and that was just the way of the world. I thought that was a good and important lesson for kids. In this book, he starts out that way, but goes in a different direction by the end, which I find really disappointing. One character in particular is a horrible person who I wanted to see punished (that's how horrible he is!), but he ends up kind of humbled and chastened instead. I think maybe The Wednesday Wars worked a little bit better than this one. Still,Gary D. Schmidt is a very affecting writer and I cried a lot while listening to this audio book. You should have seen me--sniffling my way through traffic jams on Route 9.

[sharonwillett-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Here's a story that will stick with you. Doug Swieteck comes from a family that is not supportive of him and he is dealt many hard lessons. But this is a book of triumph. Even though he is only in the eighth grade Doug takes advantage of the opportunities that come his way.After moving to a new town he meets Lil, a girl his age that doesn't take any guff. She helps him get a job at her dad's store. He soon finds it's not easy and works hard to keep the job. Lil also introduces him to the library where he learns not only how to draw but to beathe life into a picture with the help of a mentor and the Audubon Collection of bird prints.

[kimjd_2 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Read it. Read it now.
Truly wonderful, on so many levels.

[lindap69 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Another amazing book from one of my most favorite authors, surely another Newbery is on the way.

[akmargie · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

It would have gotten the full five if it hadn't been so similar to his other book, Lizzie Bright. I liked this one better but it was too much at times. And seriously, does he try and kill off most of the female characters in his other books? Good narrating though. And I did like the repetitive language.