Author: Gary D. Schmidt
Genre: historical fiction
Similar books: Red Menace by Lois Ruby
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Rating:
Summary (provided by publisher): In this poignant, perceptive, witty novel, Gary D. Schmidt brings authenticity and emotion to multiple plot strands, weaving in themes of grief, loss, redemption, achievement, and love. Following the death of her closest friend in summer 1968, Meryl Lee Kowalski goes off to St. Elene's Preparatory Academy for Girls, where she struggles to navigate the venerable boarding school's traditions and a social structure heavily weighted toward students from wealthy backgrounds. In a parallel story, Matt Coffin has wound up on the Maine coast near St. Elene's with a pillowcase full of money lifted from the leader of a criminal gang, fearing the gang's relentless, destructive pursuit. Both young people gradually dispel their loneliness, finding a way to be hopeful and also finding each other.
My opinion: Two pages. That's how far I made it into this book before I wanted to cry. Schmidt has this ability to break my heart in the best possible way. This is the third book in a loosely linked trio (absolutely no need to read the other two in order to understand this one). The first, The Wednesday Wars, introduced us to a cast of characters with the central focus on Holling Hoodhood. Okay For Now follows Holling's friend Doug after he moves away. And this volume digs deep into Meryl, Holling's almost girlfriend after her parents send her to boarding school. The inciting incident for Meryl's move happens before the book's opening, "off screen", and finds her overwhelmed with grief, living in a fog. That fog follows her through much of the plot, so the early chapters have a sort of emotional disconnect. As Meryl begins to re-engage with the world, so too do we build more connection with characters and events. We of course meet a variety of new characters, some of whom are lovable and others who are classic school villains: harsh teachers, snobby roommates, that sort of thing. But they don't stay flat villains. Through the course of the novel we see some of the things that influence their behaviors. Meryl sees the complexity in the people around her and begins to see a way forward through her grief. All of this with the tumultuous background of a small conservative village in the 60s, addressing Vietnam and classism in equal measure. The focus of the plot isn't on "fixing" things. Grief and big societal issues are not easily fixed. They simply take steps forward, which has to be enough. This is the most action oriented of Schmidt's plots, with gangsters and literal rooftop fights. This makes it a bit sensational, but not too over the top.
Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley
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