Okay for Now: A National Book Award Winner2011 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. |
Contents
1 | |
2 The RedThroated Diver | 33 |
3 The LargeBilled Puffin | 71 |
4 The BlackBacked Gull | 109 |
5 The Yellow Shank | 149 |
6 The Snowy Heron | 187 |
7 The ForkedTailed Petrel | 229 |
8 The Brown Pelican | 261 |
9 The Great Esquimaux Curlew | 291 |
10 The Arctic Tern | 327 |
The Wednesday Wars | 361 |
Educator Guide | 23 |
Back Flap | 27 |
Back Cover | 28 |
Spine | 29 |
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Common terms and phrases
Arctic Tern asked Audubon Babe Ruth Baker baseball Big Bucks Ballard bird Brown Pelican Christopher chump Coach Reed cold Coke criminal mind Daugherty desk door Doug Swieteck Doug Swieteck’s brother Doug’s draw Ernie Eco everything eyes father Ferris front glass going Gregory guess hand hate he’s head Helen Burns Hoodhood I’m not lying ice cream Irving Junior High Jane Eyre jerk Joe Pepitone Joe Pepitone’s jacket kids kitchen knew Large-Billed Puffins laugh leaned Lil Spicer looked Lucas lying Merriam Miss Cowper mother nodded Number Okay Otis Bottom Powell pretty Principal Peattie probably Puffins Red-Throated Divers Saturday shook smile Snowy Heron So-Called Gym Teacher someone Spicer’s Deli started stopped stupid Marysville talk tell Terrific There’s thing thought told took turned waiting walked Washington Irving Junior wasn’t whole lot Windermere Windermere’s wouldn’t Yankee Stadium you’re