Okay for Now is sure to be a classic!
If you loved Wednesday Wars and Lizzie Bright and the Buckminister Boy by two-time Newbery Honor and Printz Prize winning author Gary Schmidt, you’ll love his latest book Okay for Now! And not only are his books great, he is an exceptional speaker and storyteller too!
Island Readers & Writers is thrilled to host Gary Schmidt for a series of author events and discussions with readers of all ages on July 24 & 25, 2011. Programs will take place on Mount Desert Island and on Swan’s Island in their beautiful new library (dedication on July 7 at noon).
Join us on Sunday, July 24 at 4:00 p.m. at the Northeast Harbor Library to hear Gary Schmidt speak about his book Okay for Now. The program will take place in the Foyer with a reception and booksigning to follow in the Mellon Room. The event is free and open to the public. Copies of both Okay for Now and Wednesday Wars will be on sale.
Then on Monday, July 25 at 10:30 a.m. at the Swan’s Island Library and 6:30 p.m. at the Northeast Harbor Library, Gary will meet with kids (ages 10-14) who are participating in the IRW’s summer reading program Friends Over Books. These meetings will be for kids only. Young readers will read the book and participate in a discussion facilitated by a FOB volunteer prior to meeting the author. Gary will talk about the process of writing a book, answer questions and engage the kids in conversation about the book. Time will be allowed for Gary to personalize copies of the free books given to FOB participants.
In May, Gary was the guest author for 8th Grade Island-wide Read – Thursday, May 26, 2011. A collaboration between the MDI Regional School System and Island Readers & Writers involving 110 8th graders, 14 adult volunteer facilitators and teachers. All read and discussed his book Trouble, another great read!
Gary Schmidt attended Gordon College in Massachusetts and graduate school at the University of Illinois, earning a Ph.D. in medieval literature. He has been a professor of English at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan, for more than twenty-five years. He and his wife Anne have six children and live on a one hundred-fifty-year-old farm in Alto, Michigan, where Gary splits wood, plants gardens, writes, and feeds the wild cats that drop by.
Many of this books are set in or are about Maine.
