Okay for Now

After the last book, I decided to get into some lighter reading. Have you read The Wednesday Wars by Gary Schmidt? Let me just say, that is one of my all time favorite books- which is saying a lot. And not just because it involves the Yankees. This book takes one of the characters from that novel, Doug Swieteck, and moves him to another city, with his abusive father, obnoxious brother and long suffering mother. His other brother, Lucas is off fighting in Vietnam. Doug has more to deal with than most kids and he is understandably  bitter. As he makes his way through his new stupid town, he meets lots of stupid people- his own words. He becomes a delivery boy which puts him in contact with some great characters, all while trying to overcome his brother, Chris's awful reputation, and his father's ridiculous behavior. I cried my way through this one, and probably will every time I think about it. From the science teacher who figures out Doug can't read, to Lil, the girl of his dreams, the librarian who teaches him to draw, the eccentric old woman who writes broadway plays, legendary Joe Pepitone of the Yankees, to John Audubon's books of birds,and Lucas, who comes back from Vietnam without his legs, each character teaches Doug something about himself and Doug teaches them something as well. I can't say enough great things about this book. It is beautifully written about a time when putting a man on the moon was a miraculous thing and learning that people can change no matter how far down the wrong road they had gone. So get your box of tissues handy and take a trip to Marysville, New York where you will wind up wishing you could live next to these remarkable characters. Go ahead, take a chance, you won't regret it.