Okay for Now: A National Book Award Winner

Description: In this stunning novel, Newbery Honor-winner 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.

Brief description:

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 coauthor, with Ron Koertge, of Styx and Stones. He lives in rural Michigan.

Review Quotes:

"This is Schmidt's best novel yet--darker than The Wednesday Wars and written with more restraint, but with the same expert attention to voice, character and big ideas." - Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

"Reproductions of Audubon plates introduce each chapter in this stealthily powerful, unexpectedly affirming story of discovering and rescuing one's best self, despite family pressure to do otherwise."

"Readers will miss Doug and his world when they're done, and will feel richer for having experienced his engaging, tough, and endearing story." - School Library Journal (starred review)

"The book is exceptionally well written. Schmidt creates characters that will remain with the reader long after the book is done. Doug's voice is unforgettable as he tries to help and protect his mom.... While there is much stacked against him, he is a character filled with hope that the reader cannot help but root for. Push this one on readers; they will not be sorry.... Schmidt writes a journal-type story with a sharp attention to detail, patterns in the story line, and an unexpected twist at the end."