Overall Review:

Okay for Now by Gary D. Schmidt is everything that a great, middle grade fiction book should be.  It has themes, symbolism, complex and interesting characters, character development, historical context and texture, pitch-perfect voicing, and abundant humor.  If you don’t tear up at least once while reading this book, then you just might want to check your pulse to make sure you have a heart beating in that chest cavity of yours.  Lest you think the book sounds too “literary” for enjoyment by its target audience, think again.  In a household with three males between the ages of 12 and 17, the voting was unanimous…”awesome book”.

I love the main character, Doug Swieteck, and this story is really a hopeful one.  Things can get better, people can change, and “Stats don’t mean a thing.”

Bonus Tip:  Out-of-this-world fabulous audio version voiced by Lincoln Hoppe is available.

Content Analysis:

Profanity/Language:  2 religious exclamations.

Violence/Gore:  A character twists his brothers arm and threatens to break it; a character punches his brother; report of a fight between 2 adults; report that a character hit and beat up another character; written description of a dying animal in a picture; a student punches a teacher; report of multiple fights at school; a character is hit; description, with some details, of drawings of events in Vietnam War; reference to Vietnam war deaths and injuries; a few instances of implied physical abuse by a father; a report describing an act of cruelty to a child by a father.

Sex/Nudity:  Characters kiss and hold hands.

Mature Subject Matter:

Vietnam war and protests; handicaps; cancer; physical and emotional abuse.

Alcohol / Drug Use:

Reference to bars and to a character being drunk.