The Wednesday Wars

Module 6, SLIS 5420

Summary

Holling Hoodhood is left in a strange situation. His fellow Protestants in school have moved away, and the Catholic and Jewish students leave school on Wednesday afternoons for religious instruction. He, alone, is left with the teacher during this time, and he feels that his teacher, Mrs. Baker, hates him for this. At first he suspects her of siccing the school bully on him, but then he comes to believe that she is trying to wear him out through meaningless school chores like cleaning the erasures or the chalkboard. Eventually, she decides to use this time to teach him Shakespeare, and he loves it! He finds parallels in the stories with his own life and his previous love of Treasure Island. He finds the characters and their situations interesting and challenging. He comes to appreciate his time alone with his teacher. Their new relationship leads him into strange new experiences, such as performing in a Shakespeare production, excelling at cross-country track, and meeting famous baseball players. Along with the life and history lessons, there is a great deal of humor that the young reader will appreciate.

Bibliographic Information

Schmidt, Gary D. The Wednesday Wars. Clarion Books, 2007. ISBN: 978-0-618-72483-3

My Thoughts

In addition to the story of Holling's struggles in school on Wednesday afternoons, the reader is introduced to historical pieces of information about the Vietnam war and the toll it takes on families left behind. Walter Cronkite is a newscaster that many turn to for information about the increasingly distressing war. Wives turn to each other in support groups, dreading telegrams from the government/military about the status of their spouses.

Holling also learns lessons such as teachers can be more than they seem on the surface. Mrs. Baker is not only interested in literature like that of Shakespeare, but she also helps him to improve his form as a long distance runner on the track team, that rare underclassman that has the talent or knack to make the varsity team. She is a former olympic silver medal winner! Ultimately, this novel expresses hope and it is a good choice for not only learning about how to cope as a student, but how to excel. Along the way the reader learns some important history as well. This is told in a very funny style. The back story of the classroom rats is hilarious!

Reviews

Gr 5-8-This entertaining and nuanced novel limns Holling Hoodhood's seventh-grade year in his Long Island community, beginning in the fall of 1967. His classmates, half of whom are Jewish, the other half Catholic, leave early on Wednesdays to attend religious training. As the sole Presbyterian, he finds himself stranded with his teacher, Mrs. Baker, whom he's sure has it in for him. She starts off creating mindless chores for him but then induces him to read Shakespeare-lots of Shakespeare. Chapters titled by month initially seem overlong, relating such diverse elements as two terrifying escaped rats, cream puffs from a local bakery, his dad being a cheapskate/cutthroat architect, and Holling's tentative and sweet relationship with classmate Meryl Lee. The scary Doug Swieteck, and his even more frightening brother, and the Vietnam War are recurring menaces. A subplot involves a classmate who, as a recent Vietnamese refugee, is learning English and suffers taunts and prejudice. Cross-country tryouts, rescuing his older runaway sister, and opening day at Yankee Stadium are highlights. There are laugh-out-loud moments that leaven the many poignant ones as Schmidt explores many important themes, not the least of which is what makes a person a hero. The tone may seem cloying at first and the plot occasionally goes over-the-top, but readers who stick with the story will be rewarded. They will appreciate Holling's gentle, caring ways and will be sad to have the book end.

Shoemaker, Joel. School Library Journal. July 1, 2007


*Starred Review* On Wednesday afternoons, while his Catholic and Jewish schoolmates attend religious instruction, Holling Hoodhood, the only Presbyterian in his seventh grade, is alone in the classroom with his teacher, Mrs. Baker, who Holling is convinced hates his guts. He feels more certain after Mrs. Baker assigns Shakespeare's plays for Holling to discuss during their shared afternoons. Each month in Holling's tumultuous seventh-grade year is a chapter in this quietly powerful coming-of-age novel set in suburban Long Island during the late '60s. The slow start may deter some readers, and Mrs. Baker is too good to be true: she arranges a meeting between Holling and the New York Yankees, brokers a deal to save a student's father's architectural firm, and, after revealing her past as an Olympic runner, coaches Holling to the varsity cross-country team. However, Schmidt, whose Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy (2005) was named both a Printz and a Newbery Honor Book, makes the implausible believable and the everyday momentous. Seamlessly, he?nbsp;knits together the story's?nbsp; themes: the cultural uproar of the '60s, the internal uproar of early adolescence, and the timeless wisdom of Shakespeare's words. Holling's unwavering, distinctive voice offers a gentle, hopeful, moving story of a boy who, with the right help, learns to stretch beyond the limitations of his family, his violent times, and his fear, as he leaps into his future with his?nbsp;eyes and his heart wide open.
Engberg, Gillian. Booklist. June 1, 2007.

Awards

ALA Notable Children's Books
Booklist Editors' Choice
Newbery Honor Books
Oprah's Kids' Reading Lists
Texas Lone Star Reading Lists
YALSA Best Books for Young Adults

Suggestions for Use in Library

Is a closer relationship with a teacher always a bad thing from a student's point of view? In what other ways can students learn from the experience of other adults in their lives? These are some questions that one can explore with reading assignments for this book.