Okay for Now, by Gary D. Schmidt
In Schmidt’s latest novel for middle school readers, eighth-grader Doug Swieteck has many cards stacked against him. He’s got a mean older brother and a liability for a father. He’s just moved to a new school. He can’t read. He gets in fights. The principal is after him. The coach hates him. He doesn’t have a decent coat or a warm pair of shoes. His mother is sad and long-suffering.
Yet the satisfaction in this story comes not from the bad guys getting their due. Instead, the satisfaction is much deeper and broader—it comes from the reassurance that the inner self is always and truly free. In Doug’s story, this deliverance is aided by the kindness of strangers and by the gift of fine art. In author Gary Schmidt’s capable hands, its light shines right out of the pages of the book, making every day look like a fresh new spring day.
The fine art in this story is a book of John James Audubon’s Birds of America that Doug finds in the local library. Each chapter in Okay for Now is faced with a different plate from this book, and in each chapter, Doug uses that plate to further understand his world—this bird was falling and there wasn’t a single thing in the world that cared at all (the Arctic Tern) and that’s what the picture was about: meeting, even though you might be headed in different directions (The Forked-Tailed Petrel). A librarian—one of the kind strangers in this book—sees Doug’s interest in this book and encourages him to make his own drawings of the plates. The librarian’s critical analysis of these plates and the part they play in Doug’s story make a good reading experience into a sublime one.
I highly recommend this wonderful book for middle school kids of both genders and for adults who like a good story.
Gaby
The Brothers Torres by Coert Voorhees
Frankie, a sophomore, has a highly respected older brother, a senior, who looks out for him. He gives him tips on how to act in a way that will earn him respect. In their small town in New Mexico, this means being seen as hard. What Frankie is trying to do is become a man. But it will not be advice that gets him there. It will be a split-second decision he makes in the face of cruelty that will define who he is and that will liberate him.
There is a saying comparing the making of sausage and the workings of politics that I think should include the navigation of high school life. This story of a boy finding his ground in a high school setting as he tries to mature into a man has much that is not pretty, including violence, drinking, drugs, and sexual insecurity. It is, however, a reality that many high school kids will recognize. It is also a book that shines light and brings heart to what can be a foggy world for some teens.
This well-written book is written from the perspective of a high school boy and will likely be most appreciated by high school boys. High school girls who like to learn about how boys think will also enjoy it. It is a little rough for all but the most well-read and wise middle school kids.
Gaby
The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks, by E. Lockhart
Frankie Landau-Banks just wants to be let in. As a sophomore at a prestigious East Coast boarding school, she is very happy that a really popular senior thinks she is adorable. But he and his buddies have the camaraderie, the intellectual repartee, and the bonding that appears to be creating a potential springboard for their future lives. That’s where Frankie wants to be, but her boyfriend cannot imagine including her. Smart, philosophical, and highly creative, Frankie wants both to be arm candy and also to be, not only included, but the leader of the pack. She will have to choose, and though the going gets rough, she will choose and she will eventually be happy with her choice.
Author E. Lockhart writes books for teenage girls that helpfully explain boys to them and that also encourage girls to not become dependent on boys for their own identity. She does this in a very entertaining and light-hearted fashion–her books are page-turners. well-written, entertaining, and helpful. The Disreputable History of Franki-Landau-Banks won the Michael L. Printz Award for Excellence in Young Adult Literature and was a finalist for the National Book Award. It is a pleasure to recommend it for teenage girls–the content is even appropriate for middle school girls, though high school girls will probably find it more interesting.
Gaby
The Truth About Forever, by Sarah Dessen
For years I gave my students books by Sarah Dessen to read because I was confident they would enjoy them. But I only found the time to read one myself just recently. Now I am even more confident. I love giving books to teenagers that I know will help them. Sarah Dessen writes as a beneficent adult but through the eyes and the soul of youth.
In The Truth About Forever, sixteen-year-old Macy Queen grieves for her recently deceased father as she navigates her goals, her peer relationships, and her shaken home-life. The clear path through comes from deeply buried instincts that seem to fly in the face of what she and her mother thought would get her through. But she makes it because of the unadorned goodness in others that draws her along.
I laughed, I wept, I got involved with the true-to-life characters in this book and wished to get back to them when I wasn’t reading. This is clearly a book for girls; the romance develops very slowly and is deeply committed. It is a story about strength, the power of love, and pulling through.
Gaby
A Curse As Dark As Gold by Elizabeth C. Bunce
In a tight spot, in an end of the road absolutely everything will be lost tight spot, who among us would not turn to the supernatural for help, even at an extreme cost? And if it works, would we not turn to it again if misfortune pushed us again to the wall? This is such a common experience it is no wonder it is a theme of stories in many cultures over the centuries. In the story of Rumplestiltskin, a miller’s daughter must spin straw into gold or her father will die. Talk about a tight spot. But a little man appears and spins the straw into gold for her. He asks for a necklace at first but eventually it is her child he wants. She saves the child by finding out the little man’s true name.
Elizabeth Bunce has taken the hapless miller’s daughter and made her into a real force. Strong, sensible Charlotte takes over the mill when her father dies and throws herself into the impossible challenge of overcoming adversity on every side. When all her options vanish, she turns to the mysterious little man who can spin straw into gold. But it is not only his name she must discover to save everything she holds dear; she must use all her courage to discover where her forebearers went wrong and she must make it right.
This is storytelling at its best and a wonderfully rich version of a very old tale. The spells, the magic, and the curse from the dead are skillfully woven into a warmly realistic tale of millers of cloth in the years before the Industrial transformation. As I was reading this book, I heard mysterious noises in my house differently and experienced fleeting moments where I thought I might be in the presence of spirits. No wonder I liked fairy tales so much when I was a child. They break open thin windows onto alternate worlds.
Girls from age ten to ninetly will love this book. It is an advanced read for younger girls and though fairly scarey, has nothing that would be inappropriate for younger readers.
Gaby Chapman
The Gift of Rain, by Tan Twan Eng
As a teenager living in Penang, Malaya during the Japanes
e invasion of World War II, Phillip Hutton has to choose between several bad options. Born of a British adventurer/trader father and the daughter of a successful Chinese expatriate, Phillip is the student of a Japanese aikido master. The aikido becomes a metaphor for his choice, his ability to endure, and ultimately his survival–to deflect aggression, to roll, and to come up standing. But in life, it is a whole lot harder to carry off.
The combination of beautiful South Pacific imagery, the mystic presence of timelessness, the exploration of the depths of frienship and love, the inner struggles between conflicting loyalties, and the dance between inescapable fate and free will make this a richly enjoyable read for anyone who can read at or above a high school level. There is a load of information on the arrogance of British colonization, the last of the Chinese emperors, the psychology that drove the Japanese to war, the culture of Southeast Asia, Buddhism, the power system of Chinese Triads, the infancy of Asian communism and much more. Teen-age boys interested in Asian culture and history, as many seem to be, will love this adventure-filled book. Even though the protagonist is a boy, there are a few strong female characters too. A little thin on romance it may be, but I think teenage girls will like it too.
The Gift of Rain, published in 2008, was nominated for the Man Booker Prize. It is the kind of book you can’t wait to get back to and yet you hope you will never finish.
Gaby Chapman
