Wow....
.... this book kept me up till the wee hours of the night reading..... this book had me hooked, this book had me in tears...... this book.....
This book "Okay for Now" by Gary Schmidt is the companion book to the "The Wednesday Wars", a title I thoroughly enjoyed.
But this one is so much more.
Doug Swieteck has just moved to a small New York town where his dad has a new job. Doug is such an unlikely main character; a skinny thug who seems to hate the world, his family (with the exception of his mother who has a beautiful smile) and himself. And one would think rightly so. His father is abusive, his brother a bully and he is constantly being picked on then held responsible for things he didn't do.
He has built up walls and keeps the world out until he stumbles upon two things; amazing pictures of birds by James Audubon and a girl named Lil. Both offer Doug a view into a new world, one where their beauty is reflected back and absorbed.
Little by little Doug tiptoes into his new community; delivering groceries to a myriad of neighbours who give him the chance to prove himself, discovering his innate ability to draw and understand art with the help of a mentor, coming to grips with his disfiguring secret, seeing past the anger of the cruel high school coach, finding true friendship with the girl of his dreams.
There is such strength, such resilience and even though the ending is so not what you think it might be it just adds to the emotion this book draws from its reader.
