The Wednesday Wars by Gary Schmidt
The Wednesday Wars by Gary D. Schmidt
The year is 1967 and the Vietnam war is in full swing. Holling Hoodhood (try to say that ten times over) is in seventh grade at Camillo Junior High. Holling is convinced that his teacher Mrs. Baker hates his guts. Not only does Mrs. Baker hate Holling, but Holling is a Presbyterian, which means while on Wednesday afternoons when all the Jews go to Temple Beth-El and the Catholics go to Saint Adelbert’s, Holling is left alone with Mrs. Baker. There is nowhere worse to be on Wednesday afternoons, alone with a teacher who hates your guts. But it does get worse. Mrs. Baker decides that they are going to use this time to read Shakespeare! Shakespeare to a seventh grader boy is just about as bad as it gets. But it does gets worse. He soon finds himself playing the part of a fairy in the local Shakespearean play wearing yellow tights with feathers on the butt!
The Wednesday Wars takes us on the “mishaps and adventures” as Holling tries to make his way through the school year unscathed. This was laugh out funny and yet, if I was the crying type, I could have shed a tear or two. I loved the relationships between Holling and his friends, his sister, and especially that of Mrs. Baker, whom I absolutely loved. It reminded me of when I was that age in school and everybody thinks all the teachers hate you, but really they don’t. In fact, they just might be to nice to us. If I had a teacher who did half the things that Mrs. Baker did for Holling, I think she’d be my favorite. Although, teachers can’t do anything now near close to what they did otherwise you’d have the term “child predator” flying everywhere. And Holling’s parents?! What was up with them? His teachers took more of an interest in Holling than his own parents. I felt so sorry for him.
The Wednesday Wars is a 2008 Newbery Honor book and deservedly so. I still question why Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! Voices of a Medieval Village by Laura Amy Schlitz
Also, this morning I woke up from a very vivid dream about two white rats. This book takes the blame for that.
I loooooooved this book! I can’t believe it didn’t win an award either.
And ugh-those rats. Rats are my biggest fear.
on May 29th, 2008 at 1:57 amI have this out from the library right now. Hopefully I will get it read before it has to go back. Now you’ve really got me wondering about the rats…
on May 29th, 2008 at 6:21 amI’ve been waiting so long for you to read this book. I knew you weren’t looking forward to it but I was sure you would like it. I loved it and I tell people about it all the time and I’m so happy when they like it too.
on May 29th, 2008 at 7:22 amI love this book
on May 29th, 2008 at 7:53 amI too was surprised by how much I loved this book, but I really did.
And, while I agree the cover leaves a lot to be desired, I thought it was kind of neat that it was a chalkboard with a picture of a boy and Shakespeare, since chalk and Shakespeare have such large roles in the book.
on May 29th, 2008 at 8:45 amI agree, the cover does not sell this book, but I really liked the story, too. It’s not one that will stick with me for years, but I thought it was just a nice, wholesome, funny story while it lasted. I, too, have dreamt of rats lately, although I blame 1984 for that!
on May 29th, 2008 at 9:05 amI too loved this book and was not impressed with the cover. I just checked out his other Newberry honor book, Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster boy. I hear its good.
on May 29th, 2008 at 12:43 pmCan’t wait to read this one! Thanks for the review.
on May 29th, 2008 at 10:22 pmthanks for the great review–sounds like a fun read. Hey, I got my books yesterday! THANK YOU so much.
on May 30th, 2008 at 8:00 amIt’s been in my TBR pile for too long. I’m moving it to the top five pile.
on May 30th, 2008 at 2:30 pmThanks for the review. I know I’ve passed it up just looking at the cover and now I will have to actually get it.
on May 31st, 2008 at 5:41 pmYay for people wanting to read this one! I think it was a pleasant surprise. It’s nice when you read one that you didn’t expect to like and you ended up enjoying.
on June 4th, 2008 at 12:20 amI’m so glad you liked this book! I actually thought the cover was fine (and I’m definitely one who usually judges by the cover). Anyway, I loved it.
on September 2nd, 2008 at 8:51 amComment deleted by blog owner - this is a family friendly blog. While you may dislike a book it is not appropriate to leave that type of comment. However, constructive criticism is welcome and appreciated.
on September 30th, 2008 at 7:45 pmGood for you. The deleted comment came through to me un-edited. Now I’m rethinking the whole comment moderation thing.
I did get around to reading this book, and I loved it, too. I’ve not had a student read it yet, and I do suspect they won’t like it as much as I did, but I’m going to give it a try.
on October 2nd, 2008 at 1:13 pmCB James - My sincere apologizes that you had to read that nasty comment. It wasn’t spam but somebody who thought they were being “cheeky.” I like to leave the note though for future commenters. I’ve had some kids write back and forth to each other and I end up blocking their IP addresses.
I’m glad that you enjoyed this book. I do hope your students like it as well!
on October 3rd, 2008 at 11:18 pm