Schmidt, Gary D. 2007. The Wednesday Wars. Read by Joel Johnstone. Scholastic, Incorporated. ISBN 9780439925013.
2. Plot Summary
Holling Hoodhood finds his seventh grade year at Camillo Junior High starting differently than he expected. All of Holling’s classmates are Catholic or Jewish and they attend religious training on Wednesdays thus leaving him alone with his teacher, Mrs. Baker. Holling is convinced that Mrs. Baker hates his guts because of what she has him do on their Wednesdays together. Also, some of his tasks do not go as planned. Holling feels especially hated after Mrs. Baker assigns him to start reading Shakespeare. After starting to read Shakespeare, Holling figures out that it is not so bad. He also starts to see that Mrs. Baker may not hate him so much after all. Holling handles his stress at school, being a seventh grade boy (including bullies and threats of number 167), and his father’s pressure to inherit their business all during the Vietnam War and the Civil Rights Movement in 1967.
3. Critical Analysis
Holling Hoodhood is a typical Presbyterian seventh grader in the 1960s in Long Island. Pre-teens reading this book can relate to Holling and his crush on a classmate, his love for famous local baseball players, his fear of being hated by his teacher and can learn something from his enjoyment of Shakespeare. Each of the characters are presented as realistically living in the 1960s and the setting is historically accurate. Holling and his classmates experience multiple situations that seem to be in the backdrop of the story that set the stage for powerful Civil Rights Movements and the Vietnam War.
The theme of The Wednesday Wars is based upon the mis-interpretations we have of people and their reactions to us. Holling spent many days thinking that his teacher, Mrs. Baker hated his guts when truly she was supporting him and proved to be a great friend. Mrs. Baker advises Holling on his education, on his crush, his acting career, and even his running. She has surprises around every corner. Holling also sees these mis-interpretations in a baseball player, his father and his sister.
The theme of The Wednesday Wars is based upon the mis-interpretations we have of people and their reactions to us. Holling spent many days thinking that his teacher, Mrs. Baker hated his guts when truly she was supporting him and proved to be a great friend. Mrs. Baker advises Holling on his education, on his crush, his acting career, and even his running. She has surprises around every corner. Holling also sees these mis-interpretations in a baseball player, his father and his sister.
Joel Johnstone does an amazing job at narrating this story. He creates different tones and brings life to each character. Without description of who it is, the listener knows who Johnstone is acting as. His narration of Holling is distinct and perfectly represents a seventh grader who is maturing and experiencing life. This story is humorous and will catch the interests of even the least likely reader.
4. Award & Review Excerpts
Nominated for Newbery Medal
Nominated for California Young Reader Medal
Nominated for Volunteer State Book Award
Nominated for Beehive Young Adults’ Book Award
Won American Library Association Notable Books for Children Award
Won Publishers Weekly Best Children’s Books
“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.” -- Booklist Starred Review
“Johnstone's first-person narration perfectly captures Holling's progression from an angst-filled yet innocent boy, to a wiser, self-aware young man. His reading is touching, funny and insightful; he manages to bring the listener back to a time-real or nostalgically re-imagined, at least-when the crack of a bat against a ball in Yankee Stadium or sharing a Coke with a girl at the Woolworth's counter was all any boy could want. This is a lovely, heartfelt novel, read with as much care as the author used to create it.” -- Publishers Weekly
5. Connections
- Ask children to listen to other audiobooks - shorter and longer than this one. Present the following discussion questions:
- Did you enjoy listening to a story?
- What did you like or dislike about listening to a story rather than reading it?
- Would you rather listen to someone in person read a story or through an audiobook? What about reading aloud yourself?
- Invite children to write a letter to someone they think may “hate their guts”. Ask them to consider how they may be mis-interpreting their relationship with this person. Is it possible the enemy is a friend?
- Present students with a few of Shakespeare’s curses and ask them to create some of their own.
