The Wednesday Wars

Schmidt, Gary D. 2007. The Wednesday Wars. New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. ISBN-13: 978-0547237602

Plot Summary:

In 1968, Holling Hoodhood is a 7th grader convinced that his English teacher, Mrs. Baker, comes to hate him on the very first day of school. He's not Jewish, nor is he Catholic, which means on Wednesday afternoons, his teacher is stuck with him (or is he stuck with his teacher?) while half of his class goes to Catholic school and the other half goes to Jewish school. To make Wednesday afternoons pass by, Mrs. Baker assigns Holling various works of Shakespeare, which cements Holling's belief that Mrs. Baker despises him. While the war wages in Vietnam and the country begins to rebel against the status quo, Holling learns Shakespeare knew something about life and learns there is more to Mrs. Baker, as a person, than just sentence diagramming.

Critical Analysis:

The Wednesday Wars is a funny, coming-of-age story set during the Vietnam War. Holling Hoodhood is an anomaly in his 7th grade class. He name does not end in "berg" or "zog" or "stein" nor does it end in "elli" or "ini" or "o." So, from the moment Mrs. Baker calls the roll on the first day of class she knows Holling will not attend religious classes on Wednesday afternoons. He will need a place to stay and that place is in her classroom. The look in her eyes at that moment convinces Holling that she immediately hates him and Holling is put on guard for retribution, which comes in the form of Shakespeare after a disastrous attempt to feed Mrs. Baker's rats and the accidental destroying of Mrs. Baker's cream puffs.

Shakespeare's plays provide a link for Holling between what is going on in his home and in the world to what is going on for him at school. Through Shakespeare's plays, Holling learns the importance of being who you are, who you want to be, and not doing what everyone expects of you. He sees his family members in some Shakespeare's characters. Holling's mother is spineless, his father is apathetic, his sister is a budding flower child, and he is the somewhat unwilling heir apparent to his father's architecture firm. His father and sister argue, sometimes fiercely, about the events in Vietnam and the opposition in the country as Walter Cronkite narrates the nightly news.

Also, Holling is enchanted with the curses he learns and uses them, liberally, while at school, and just like at most schools, the only person (or people) that really get his curses is his English teacher, who as the year goes on, Holling comes to see she doesn't hate him. They have interesting discussions over The Tempest, Romeo and Juliet, Much Ado About Nothing, Julius Caesar, and The Merchant of Venice.

Mrs. Baker's push for Holling to learn Shakespeare puts him in an awkward position when he's cast as Ariel for the community play. Holling prays no one from his school will find out, but of course, Mrs. Baker encourages everyone to attend. Holling's brief foray into acting occurs on a singularly important night in his life: Mickey Mantle is appearing at a local sporting goods store (owned by Mrs. Baker's brother-in-law) and he is Holling's idol. But when Holling comes into the store, late, wearing his fairy costume, Mantle takes one look at him, makes a comment about not giving his autograph to fairies, and leaves, breaking Holling's heart on a night where he has already suffered from his father's apathy towards his only son. His parents skip their son's acting debut and then his father forgets to pick him up afterwards leaving him on his own to make it to see Mickey Mantle.

The only character in the book that seems too good to be true, at times, is Mrs. Baker, and for me, the way she intervened and had two of the Yankee players come to Holling's school to play ball with him after his disappointment in Mantle is one of those times. The other is when she appeals to the Yankees to use another architecture firm in town to repair and rebuild Yankee Stadium so that another student of hers father has a job. However, I identified with her sometimes snarky and smart-aleck teacher humor. She reminded me of me as a teacher because I've often rolled my eyes at something my students have said or made a smart comment I probably should have kept to myself.

Thematically, the book explores the importance of friendship, the effects of betrayal, love, family, education, prejudice, and tolerance of differences. The use of humor throughout the novel makes the characters real, identifiable, and enjoyable. There are moments in the novel that elicit laughter (the rats in the ceiling, anyone? Or, Doug's brother's list of a ways to get a teacher to hate you?) and there are moments that make the reader smile, not because something is funny, but because something is right (Holling meeting the Yankees and running the bases at Yankee Stadium or standing up to his father after Holling's sister runs away and calls home, crying, ready to come home but needs help and their father refuses or Mrs. Baker's husband found safely in Vietnam and coming home).

The Wednesday Wars does everything right. It is funny, it is serious, it is realistic. We all went to school with a Holling (or were Holling!), and we all had (or I hope we did) that teacher that tried their best to make a difference in our lives. It is a memorable coming of age novel that all middle schoolers should have the opportunity to read.

Review Excerpts:

"Still, while “The Wednesday Wars” was one of my favorite books of the year, it wasn’t written for me. Sometimes books that speak to adults miss the mark for their intended audience. To see if the novel would resonate as deeply with a child, I gave it to an avid but discriminating 10-year-old reader. His laughter, followed by repeated outbursts of “Listen to this!,” answered my question. Best of all, he asked if I had a copy of “The Tempest” he could borrow." Tanya Lee Stone, Sunday Book Review, The New York Times

"Schmidt...seamlessly 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." Engberg, Gillian, Booklist.

Awards:

2008 Newbery Honor Book
2008 ALA Notable Children's Book
2008 ALA Best Book for Young Adults
2007 Booklist Editors' Choice
2007 Book Sense Award Finalist

Connections:

The Wednesday Wars would enhance any unit over the late 1960s. It discusses nearly every world important event of that time period.

In a classroom, students should have the opportunity to explore the Shakespeare plays mentioned throughout the novel.

Using discussion questions found on the internet could enhance any exploration of the novel.