The Wednesday Wars

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Schmidt, Gary D. 2007.WEDNESDAY WARS. New York, NY: Clarion Books. ISBN 978-0547237602

PLOT SUMMARY
Set in 1967 in city of Long Island, America is involved in the Vietnam War and dealing with the death of Martin Luther King Jr. on the home front. During this state of unrest, a boy, Holling Hoodhood is beginning his seventh grad year at school as the only Presbyterian in a school full of students who are either Catholic or Jewish. Due to him being the only one with out a place to go on Wednesday afternoons, Holling is sentenced to spend the day with Mrs. Baker, who he believes hates him and assigns him to study Shakespeare. As the story progress, Mrs. Baker guides Holling through the difficulties and troubles of life and Holling realizes that Mrs Baker genuinely cares for him and isn't as bad as he first thought.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Schmidt's coming of age novel while set in a troubling time of war and racial tension is immensely funny and heart-warming. “To ask your sister to be your ally is like asking Nova Scotia to go into battle with you.” and “But toads, beetles, bats. If you can't figure that out for yourself, then a southwest blow on ye and blister you all o'er.” are some of the laugh out loud lines that Schmidt uses to create a compelling plot about a truly transforming year for Holling Hoodhood. Spending time with Mrs. Baker on Wednesday afternoons, Holling Hoodhood, while learning Shakespeare learns life lessons, how to be the person he wants to be and to eventually become the man he supposed to be.

REVIEW EXCERPT
2008 ALA NOTABlE BOOKS FOR CHILDREN AWARD

2007 PUBLISHERS WEEKLY BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR

Starred review by BOOKLIST “ However, Schmidt, whose Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy (2005) was named both a Printz and a Newberry Honor Book, makes the implausible believable and the everyday momentous. Seamlessly, he knits together the story's 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 eyes and his heart wide open.”

CONNECTIONS
Those interested in the culture of America in the 1960s will be drawn to these novel.
Other novels by Gary D. Schmidt and similar to WEDNESDAY WARS:
Schmidt, Gary D. Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy. ISBN 978-0375841699 and
Holm, Jenny L. Penny from Heaven. ISBN 978-0375836893