I just read another great book, and this was the second time
I read it. Gary D. Schmidt’s Okay
for Now I first read as a reader. The next I did so as a writer.
In a nutshell, Doug is a tough kid hardened by an abusive
father and two older brothers. His father’s obnoxious behavior gets him fired,
forcing the family to move to stupid Marysville in upstate New York where the
small town people target him as a hoodlum. But Doug is not the ruffian the town
perceives him to be. There is a another side to this survivor kid who, by
reaching out to others, allows himself to transcend the prejudice against him
and the family he’s a product of.
This book is fantastic on many levels. The voice is striking
and Schmidt absolutely nails this kid. He maintains Doug’s tough-guy persona,
yet allows him to shed it and for the character to grow. The voice is true throughout
and does not waver. Another thing Schmidt does nicely is to allow Doug to talk
to directly to readers, as if he and they were all chatting in the same room.
Schmidt provides a strong cast of characters and the amiable
Doug is willing to reach out to them. Lil is the first person to notice the
skinny thug and he follows her into the public library. She is in most of his middle school
classes. Her father runs the market and hires Doug to be a Saturday morning delivery
boy. On his rounds, he befriends his regular customers, including a playwright
and a policeman’s family. Saturday afternoons Doug is fascinated by a large
book of Audubon’s drawings under glass in the library. An elderly library
worker introduces Doug to art techniques, such as composition and movement in a
picture, lessons that play out in various aspects of Doug’s life. And Schmidt
give us teachers, some who provoke him to be the hoodlum they see him as,
others who see his softer side.
I don’t know what’s more critical to craft a good story,
voice or character. I suppose it should have both.
