In the Gilman Room--First Meeting of the New Year!
New members always welcome...Snacks provided!
Books available at the adult desk. Also come offer suggestions for books and music you'd like to see in your Teen Zone!
We will discuss Okay for Now by Gary Schmidt
When his blowhard dad loses his job, Doug Swieteck has to move. His oldest brother's in Vietnam, his middle brother's still a hoodlum, his mom is quiet, and his only salvation is weekly visits to the public library, where the librarian is teaching him to draw by using models from a volume of Audubon's Birds of America. Also not too bad is Lil, the daughter of the grocer who gives him a delivery job. Set in the 1960s, Schmidt spins a tale including baseball, humorous theatrical escapades, and timely preoccupations like the Moon landing and the Vietnam War. Doug grows to realize a lot about his family's relationships through study of Audubon's painted birds (one plate is featured at the start of each chapter). The author manages a balance of youth-is-hard humor and family trauma.
This will be the first in a series of humorous YA books that we will read this year. Come find out what we're all about.