The Wednesday Wars

What a completely unexpected delight! The book starts off with a 7th grader who thinks his teacher hates him. I wasn’t that interested in the premise. What develops from that is so much more. A boy who discovers Shakespeare, the power of kindness and standing up to bullies, first crushes, and finding yourself, all against the backdrop of the Vietnam war and the assassinations of Bobby Kennedy and MLKJ. It’s a surprisingly powerful little gem and Mrs. Baker will forever be one of my favorite literary teachers now.

If Catcher in the Rye were any good, it would be this book. Getting 5th graders to laugh at Shakespeare plots and dialogue is no small accomplishment! The June chapter contains a scene of stunning beauty that is an apt counterargument to Fitzgerald's boat beating against the current. The book skillfully envelops large themes in the sometimes mundane, sometime ridiculous life of a 7th grader living in 1968.

There are some books I find myself intending to read, but never getting around to it until I get a little push at some stage. I got my push with this book when Mom borrowed it from the library—what better time to read it than when we already have it? I’m so glad I did that; this has become my favorite middle-grade read of the year so far.

It took me no time at all to get into the story—and only a few pages to get to the point where I was trying to quell my laughter so I wouldn’t bother others while I read. Holling Hoodhood (which is such a clever name in itself) is the most perceptive, hilarious character, and some of the conclusions he comes to are…interesting, to say the least. The setting is delightful, and the glimpse into show more my grandparent’s time was fascinating. I loved Holling’s teacher, and his sister, hated his dad, and fell in love with middle-grade books all over again with this story.

In many ways, this isn’t an easy book. It deals with a somewhat dysfunctional family, the Vietnam War, and the hippie movement, and there’s a lot of growth in the main character and other characters throughout the story. This is a book about friendship, and how sometimes we have to sacrifice for others in order to make progress. And somehow, Schmidt pulls it all together into a gripping story.

I absolutely loved this story, and I’m looking forward to reading the sequel at some stage. Deep, yet lighthearted (you can’t miss the part about the rats in the ceiling!), flavored with another time but still relatable, this is a book I’d gladly share with my siblings—I suspect it would become a family favorite if we read it together. Highly recommended! show less

This review is also available on my blog, Read Till Dawn.

This book . . . it was good. Really good. And I don't really know what I can say in this review, other than that. It's not exactly my go-to type of book, mainly because of the age of the main character. A lot of the events that take place in the book still make me cringe just thinking about them - but at the same time, they were pulled off more tastefully here than anywhere else I've ever read them. This is probably the least gag-worthy middle school romance I've ever read, due in large part to the fact that the romance doesn't take center stage. In fact, if the book doesn't mention numerous times that it's set in middle school, I could easily have mistaken it for a high school show more romance, not because of mature content but because of the maturity of feelings both characters show for each other - they may not have always been on the same wavelength, but at least they didn't spend the whole book in an on-again-off-again relationship.

One thing I loved in the book was the copious amount of Shakespeare references. Holling begins halfway through the book to use Shakespeare lines such as "toads, beetles, bats, light on you!" as his go-to curses, and the results are rather hilarious. He also begins to mix and match his Shakespeare lines, making up his own curses like "strange stuff, the dropsy drown you." His teacher Mrs. Baker seems really awesome, and for once in my life I almost envied a public school kid for having teachers who weren't his parents! But then again, my parents aren't as horrible as Holling's so I don't need a teacher like Mrs. Baker.

And that brings me to Holling's family. I hate his father, I really do. I also have zero sympathy for his mother. The father steamrolls, the mother gets steamrolled, and anything and everything must be sacrificed in the pursuit of appearances for the sake of his father's career. The first time his father told Holling to behave nicely to someone because it was important to his father's career, I was okay with it. The second time I was annoyed. By the end of the book, if he so much as started a sentence with the phrase "____? As in related to ____?" I just wanted to punch him. When Holling talked about his life, all his father heard was "business potential!" I empathized much more with Holling's sister Heather. She was about my age, and supported everything her father detested. She wanted to join the flower children in protest against the Korean war, but her father basically called her an idiot who would make him look bad in front of potential customers, and forced her to act the part of the perfect daughter. I don't blame her at all for what she did later in the book, and I love Holling all the more for the way he was the only one who supported her when things got rough.

Basically, this is probably one of the best Newberry Honor books I have ever read. If you think it looks interesting, then go read it! I promise it's worth your time. show less

Tangential to my usual Newbery rant is this: the Newbery Honor books are usually better books than the Newbery medal winners, and this is no exception.

Against the background of the Vietnam war (in which faculty members' husbands are fighting, missing, dying), Hollis is just trying to make it through the seventh grade--the year when half his class goes to Hebrew school on Wednesday afternoons, and the other half goes to catechism, leaving Hollis alone with Mrs. Baker week after week. And that wouldn't be so bad, except that Mrs. Baker apparently hates him. After devising several plans to get rid of him in the afternoons, she finally starts assigning him Shakespeare--which leads to a number of colorful curses, and understanding of love, show more and a public performance in yellow tights with feathers on the butt.

There's also a strong story here outside of school, of Hollis' home life--his father, doing everything possible to secure his architectural firm in the town; his sister, whose liberal politics are in direct opposition to their father's; his mother, who isn't as well drawn as the others but mostly just wants peace in the household. There are some vague references to Hollis' parents having fallen out of love with each other, but no big deal is ever made of it; it's just the way things are, and not a particular source of drama or strife.

The story is tenderly written without being mushy; the sadness, loneliness, and grief are tempered with happiness and hope, and the growing ability to let others help shoulder one's burdens--and to help shoulder others'. It's a tender, beautiful book, but there's more happening here to balance it than in the usual Newbery fare.

(Shelved as Children's and Teen, because this is really right on the cusp--I think the appeal is mostly 5th-6th grade, despite the character's being in 7th.) show less

Newbery Honor Book, The Wednesday Wars by Gary Schmidt is a funny and poignant coming of age tale. The story is about the misadventures of Long Island, New York seventh-grader Holling Hoodhood during his turbulent academic year of 1967-68.

Threaded amongst mentions of the Vietnam War, the upcoming political elections, the assassinations of both Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King, we learn of Holling’s personal traumas as he travels through Grade 7. First he is convinced that his teacher hates him and is making it her project to ruin his life. But as the year progresses, Holling grows from an angst filled pre-teen in a wiser, more self-aware person. The story is touching, insightful and funny.

I thoroughly enjoyed The Wednesday Wars show more finding it hilarious, heartfelt and historically accurate. I grew up in this time period and felt right at home with Holling and his friends in this is story about being in seventh grade and learning about yourself and the world around you. show less

Holling Hoodhood is the only Presbyterian in his class, which means that on Wednesday afternoons when half his classmates go to Hebrew school and the other half go to CCD, he's stuck in the classroom with his teacher, Mrs. Baker. At first, she gives him chores to do, but then she starts having him read Shakespeare.

I'm rather ashamed to say I've been putting this book off, despite the acclaim it's received and the recommendations I've received from others on LT. The truth is, I found Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy depressing, and was afraid I'd be in for the same sort of book. What I didn't realize at all was how incredibly funny The Wednesday Wars is. I listened to quite a bit of it on my commute to work, and narrator Joel show more Johnstone not only has a pitch-perfect reading sounding like a middle school boy, he also brings out the humor in every situation (I will never think of cream puffs in exactly the same way again...).

Though the book is set in 1967-68, and the Vietnam War and politics are mentioned, what is the center of the book is not these historical events, but Holling's growth as an individual. Holling struck me as a typical teenager in his developing empathy, on the one hand seeing how an interaction affected both an adult and his schoolmate and, not too long later, telling his teacher he didn't think she had any problems to speak of. Because of this, even in a first-person narration we get to know several other characters well as Holling comes to understand them better. The only character that seemed rather one-dimensional to me was his father who is, frankly, a jerk. I'm so glad I finally got around to reading this, and will definitely be moving the companion book Okay for Now on my TBR list. show less