Nomination Post #7

[torigates]

Hey all! Time to dust off your nominations! This month will be an open theme. Whatever you want, no matter what it is. Nominations are due by July 29, 2011. Voting will be open July 30 until the 31st.
How to nominate:

1. Name of book.
2. Small blurb about the book (can be copied from Amazon or similar site)
3. Why this book is awesome.

1. Name

Comments

[beth_shulman]

1. Name of book. Okay for Now by Gary Schmidt

2. Small blurb about the book. From Barnes and Noble: As 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.

3. Why this book is awesome. Well, this is technically a children's book, but only in the sense that it's universal. It's a wonderful, touching story of family and friendship and abuse, and the power of art (and of baseball). The writing and the voice are pitch-perfect and the story, set in the Vietnam War era, is very real. The characters are living, breathing people. I think this is a book that will be treasured the way A Wrinkle in Time and other such classics are.

[beth_shulman]

The Wednesday Wars? Yes, literally right before this one! It's FANTASTIC too! I don't know why I didn't read it like two years ago!

[beth_shulman]

I only read them this past weekend, but I think they're both fantastic. Like you said, there is so much that goes on and somehow it's all meaningful and smart and real.

(Wow italics FTW.)