The boy is captivated by the birds, but soon it becomes clear that to raise money, the town has been selling off different pages in the book to collectors. Doug notices the amazing paintings of birds in an Audubon book on display in the public library. When he and his family move to Marysville, New York (herein usually referred to as “stupid Marysville”) things start to change a little. Stuck in a family with a dad that prefers talking with his fists to his mouth, a sweet but put upon mom, a brother in Vietnam, and another one at home making his little brother’s life a misery, it’s not like Doug’s ever had all that much that’s good in his life. If any kid is aware that life is not a bed of roses, it’s Doug.

That’s not what life is like.” It’s not like the librarian Mrs. “You’re not always going to get everything you want, you know. All you’ll know is that you have a great book on your hands. And for people who begin with the second, you won’t miss a thing really if you haven’t read the first. For fans of the first, you will enjoy the second. Ostensibly a sequel to his Newbery Honor winning title The Wednesday Wars, the hero of Okay for Now, Doug Swieteck, was a bit part character in the first book, and now has come entirely into his own in the second. Schmidt would be the third type of sequel, I think. The third kind of sequel makes mention of facts and/or people in the first book but if you read the story on your own you might not even be aware that there was previous book in the first place. The second kind of sequel nods to the first book and brings up continual facts from it, but is a coherant story in its own right. First, you have the sequel that is so intricately tied into the plot of the first book that not a page goes by that you don’t feel you’re missing something if you skipped Book #1.

There are three kinds of literary sequels for kids out there. Clarion Books (an imprint of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)

Ok for now gary schmidt