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Welcome back to the Big Read Lakeshore! We’re excited to announce something completely new for this year’s lineup of books. Instead of a Big Read book with accompanying Middle, Little, and Mini Reads, we are featuring five novels by one local author.
About the Author
Gary D. Schmidt is an award-winning author of numerous middle grade and young adult novels. He grew up in New York before getting a Bachelor’s degree in English at Gordon College. He then got his Master’s in English and PhD in medieval literature at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Schmidt currently lives in Alto, Michigan and is professor emeritus at Calvin University.
Schmidt is known for his realistic fiction novels that do not shy away from the hard parts of life. Although all his characters face struggles, they emerge stronger than before with the help of others. The five novels chosen for this year’s Big Read Lakeshore all focus on the importance of hope and community throughout hardship.
The Big Read
The Wednesday Wars
“But you know that stuff about the darkest nights turning into the brightest dawns? That can sometimes come true. Even when you least expect it.”
The Wednesday Wars is a Newbery Honor Book. It was published in 2007 and takes place in New York during the Vietnam War. The main character, Holling, has to spend his afternoons with his teacher, who forces him to read Shakespeare. Even though Holling begins the school year thinking Mrs. Baker “hates his guts,” he soon learns about the power of literature through the plays she makes him read. He realizes that he has to live his own life boldly—ignoring school bullies and fighting against his prejudiced and controlling father’s plans for him.
Accompanying Books
In addition to The Wednesday Wars, participants in the Big Read Lakeshore 2026 program are encouraged to read five other books by Schmidt: Okay for Now, Orbiting Jupiter, Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy, and The Labors of Hercules Beal.
Okay for Now
“Sometimes, art can make you forget everything else all around you. That’s what art can do.”
Okay for Now is a Children’s Choice Book Award winner with themes of perseverance and resiliency. It follows Doug, who has to survive an abusive father and the prejudiced town that his family just moved to. A librarian helps Doug learn about the healing power of art through John Audubon’s Birds of America.
Orbiting Jupiter
“Christmas is the season for miracles, you know. Sometimes they come big and loud, I guess—but I’ve never seen one of those. I think probably most miracles are a lot smaller, and sort of still, and so quiet, you could miss them.”
Orbiting Jupiter is told from the perspective of Jack, whose parents adopt a 14 year old who is a father. Jack promises his new brother that he will help him find his daughter, Jupiter. Along the way, Jack learns the importance of trust and familial love.
Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy
“The world turns and the world spins, the tide runs in and the tide runs out, and there is nothing in the world more beautiful and more wonderful in all its evolved forms than two souls who look at each other straight on. And there is nothing more woeful and soul-saddening than when they are parted…everything in the world rejoices in the truth, and everything in the world laments in the losing.”
Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy is a Newbery Honor and Michael L. Printz Honor book. It is a historical fiction story about Malaga Island that explores themes of racial injustice and fighting for what you believe in. Turner, the son of the (white) town minister, becomes friends with a (Black) girl from Malaga Island. He must choose a side once the town decides to force the community on Malaga Island to leave.
The Labors of Hercules Beal
“you can’t do everything by yourself. But once you figure out you don’t have to, you begin to look around and you see that even though you feel like you’ve been alone, you really haven’t been.”
The Labors of Hercules Beal focuses on a boy who must complete a modern version of the mythical Hercules’ 12 Labors for a school assignment while working at his family’s farm and nursery, and dealing with the recent loss of his parents. It seems like it will be too much for Hercules to handle, until he realizes that he does not have to do it alone.
Thank you so much for joining us for our wonderful programming! Keep an eye out for our upcoming events and don’t forget to check out our website and other blog posts.
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