MARCH MADNESS

Yes, I am a sports fan, but the March Madness I am talking about is the 4th annual Battle of the Books conducted by School Library Journal.  I can't believe this has been going on for 4 years every March and I just found out about it.  Here's how it works: each year staff at the School Library Journal select 16 books published the previous year.  Those books go head to head in brackets and are judged by other authors.  Here is a link to this year's brackets: 2012 BOB Brackets  The final round brings back one book "from the dead" to go against the final two.

As decisions are made, the judges blog their decision and the reasons for it. I have been able to keep up with the blog this year and am fascinated with their process.  My only regret is that there aren't enough hours in the day to read all these wonderful books.

When I saw the brackets my immediate thought was that whichever of "Okay for Now" or "Wonderstruck" was eliminated would be brought back for the finals, but, having read some of the decisions, now I am not so sure.  What do you think?

"Okay for Now" is A-OK

This is going to be a longer post than usual, so if all you are interested in is the new Gary Schmidt book, just go to the second half.  I feel compelled to tell you how I started reading Gary Schmidt.  One summer while I was shelving books at the Westport Public Library a friend came to the Children's Room.  She was looking for a copy of "Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy".  She told me that her family had listened to "Lizzie Bright" in the car and the language was so beautiful she had to actually read it.  Of course I took it out next.  It took me few tries to get into it - I thought it was 'yet another' sports book.  I know, how wrong could I be?  I would say I was blown away by it, but given that Schmidt's writing is so good he even makes the air a character, that would be hackneyed.

That parent was right.  And if I were an English teacher, I would give every student a copy of "Lizzie Bright" as an example of how to have your reader experience the book, rather than merely reading it.

So then a colleague started talking about "The Wednesday Wars".  And I'm thinking - Vietnam, Long Island - can Schmidt pull it off?  So I delayed and delayed until I had to read it for a course last year.  And that's when Gary Schmidt became my new favorite author.  Yes, it was just like the cliche - I laughed, I cried.  But I didn't just laugh, I was shrieking with laughter.  And I didn't just cry, I was sobbing.  A truly phenomenal book (and it doesn't hurt that I'm a Yankees fan).

So when I heard that the sequel was coming out, I felt a great deal of trepidation.  Could Schmidt succeed again?  I got the book last week and waited to read it.  I kept telling myself not to expect a book as good as "The Wednesday Wars".  I started it Saturday night and put it down after a few pages.  I was so upset that the book was not about Holling Hoodhood, but about Doug Swieteck.  I really didn't care about Doug Swieteck; I wanted to find out how Holling's family was doing.

But on Sunday, faced with my taxes and assigning Library of Congress call numbers to my imaginary library for class, "Okay for Now" was much more appealing.  So I read it.  And yes, I laughed (not out loud) and I cried (maybe not sobbing but more than just a few tears).  And it's a really good book.  Almost as good as "The Wednesday Wars".  Let's put it this way -- if on a scale of 1 to 10, "The Wednesday Wars" is a 12, "Okay for Now" is a solid 10, maybe even a 10 and a 1/2.

A few personal notes:
When my son was in elementary school, he did a huge project on John James Audubon.
My daughter and I still laugh about a joke about the arctic tern from Whose Line Is It Anyway?
If you want to know what these have to do with Okay for Now, you'll have to read the book.

And those smart-ass things Doug Swieteck says to his teachers -- that would be me.