The Wednesday Wars

Gary D. Schmidt

Publisher: Clarion Books

Published: 2007

2008 Newberry Medal and Honor Book

FTC FYI- I borrowed it from a friend who borrowed it from the library

Holling Hoodhood has a problem. He is neither Jewish or Catholic, so he is the only student in his class who doesn’t go to church school on Wednesdays. That means he is stuck with Mrs. Baker, who hates him. Of course any seventh grade boy is going to think that of his teacher, especially when she rolls her eyes and crosses her arms all the time. The year is 1967. Holling lives in Long Island with his parents and sister. Father is an architect, mother is a house wife and closet smoker. His sister is a flower-child, which his father “can not stand for in his house.”  Through these characters we are witness to many important events that happened around this time: Martin Luther King, The Beatles, Bobby Kennedy, Mickey Mantle, Vietnam War, Shakespeare… Wait, Shakespeare, that doesn’t happen in 1967. Just wait.

At first Wednesday are hard for Holling because he is only asked to do menial chores: cleaning erasers and running errands, mostly. One of the funniest parts is when Holling is cleaning out the rat cage. In his time with Mrs. Baker, she decides that Holling should learn Shakespeare. Which leads to a very funny problem with yellow tights, feathers and all. Holling learns things about himself, his family, and along the way finds a friendship. My favorite part though, was near the end when we find out what his sister’s name is.

5 stars out of 5. I loved this book. It is so funny, I was laughing out loud. It’s also very sweet, I got teary in a few spots.

Gary D. Schmidt has written more books. Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy won the American Library Assocation and Newberry Honor in 2005.