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The Wednesday Wars
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The Wednesday Wars (2007) (edit title/settings)

by Gary D. Schmidt (Author) (edit contributors)

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Description edit see section history

Gary D. Schmidt offers an unforgettable antihero in THE WEDNESDAY WARS—a wonderfully witty and compelling novel about a teenage boy's mishaps and adventures over the course of the 1967–68 school year. Meet Holling Hoodhood, a seventh-grader at Camillo Junior High, who must spend Wednesday... read more

Summary edit see section history

When Holling Hoodhood starts seventh grade, he knows two things for sure. First, he is the son who will one day inherit Hoodhood and Associates (his father’s architecture firm). Second, his new teacher, Mrs. Baker, hates his guts. He first discovers this fact on Wednesday, when the Jewish and... read more (warning: may contain spoilers)

When Holling Hoodhood starts seventh grade, he knows two things for sure. First, he is the son who will one day inherit Hoodhood and Associates (his father’s architecture firm). Second, his new teacher, Mrs. Baker, hates his guts. He first discovers this fact on Wednesday, when the Jewish and Catholic students leave for religious study, and Holling, the only Presbyterian, must stay behind with Mrs. Baker. Mrs. Baker tortures him with meaningless chores each Wednesday, until one day, she comes up with a new punishment. She forces him to read Shakespeare.

Through reading and performing Shakespeare, Holling learns two things. First, he can choose to be more than the son who will one day inherit Hoodhood and Associates. Second, Mrs. Baker probably doesn’t hate him.

The political and social unrest of the Vietnam era bubble under the surface of this strongly felt coming-of-age novel. Schmidt peppers his deeply funny story with poignant moments of loss, growth and missed chances. Even if some plot twists seem too good to be true (like when Holling gets to play with the Yankees), Holling brings a unique, believable voice that will speak to young and not-so-young readers alike. A beautifully crafted novel about finding hope and strength even in the most uncertain of times.

Characters/People edit see section history

  • Holling Hoodhood: Main charector who works hard to ger his teacher to like him.
  • Danny Hupfer: Holling's best friend.
  • Meryl Lee Kowalski: A girl in Holling's class who has a crush on Holling.
  • Coach Quatrini: A mean coach who drives his students to the edge, Coach Quatrini is inspired to start a cross-country team.
  • Heather: Holling's sister.
  • Mrs. Baker: Holling's English teacher. How at the begining of the year doesn't like Holling. Introduces him to Shakespeare and supports him. Husband is in the military.
  • Bumhead mc butts: Just randomly shows up in the book
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Quotes edit see section history

  • Popular Highlights from Kindle Customers
  • sometimes it feels as if life is governed by the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune.'
    Highlighted by 30 Kindle customers
  • Learn everything you can—everything. And then use all that you have learned to grow up to be a wise and good man.
    Highlighted by 24 Kindle customers
  • Maybe the first time that you know you really care about something is when you think about it not being there, and you know—you really know—that the emptiness is as much inside you as outside you. For it so falls out, that what we have we prize not to the worth whiles we enjoy it; but being lacked and lost, why, then we rack the value, then we find the virtue that possession would not show us while it was ours.
    Highlighted by 22 Kindle customers
  • In the real world, people fall out of love little by little, not all at once. They stop looking at each other. They stop talking. They stop serving lima beans. After Walter Cronkite is finished, one of them goes for a ride in a Ford Mustang, and the other goes upstairs to the bedroom. And there is a lot of quiet in the house. And late at night, the sounds of sadness creep underneath the bedroom doors and along the dark halls.
    Highlighted by 22 Kindle customers
  • 'That we are made for more than power,' she said softly. 'That we are made for more than our desires. That pride combined with stubbornness can be disaster. And that compared with love, malice is a small and petty thing.'
    Highlighted by 20 Kindle customers
  • When gods die, they die hard. It's not like they fade away, or grow old, or fall asleep. They die in fire and pain, and when they come out of you, they leave your guts burned. It hurts more than anything you can talk about. And maybe worst of all is, you're not sure if there will ever be another god to fill their place. Or if you'd ever want another god to fill their place. You don't want fire to go out inside you twice.
    Highlighted by 17 Kindle customers
  • For it so falls out, that what we have we prize not to the worth whiles we enjoy it; but being lacked and lost, why, then we rack the value, then we find the virtue that possession would not show us while it was ours.
    Highlighted by 16 Kindle customers
  • Think of the sound you make when you let go after holding your breath for a very, very long time. Think of the gladdest sounds you know:
    Highlighted by 15 Kindle customers
  • Let me tell you, when Presbyterians start to dance on the front stoop, you know that something big has happened.
    Highlighted by 13 Kindle customers
  • If your last name ended in 'berg' or 'zog' or 'stein,' you lived on the north side. If your last name ended in 'elli' or 'ini' or 'o,' you lived on the south side.
    Highlighted by 10 Kindle customers
Show all 13 quotes from this book

First Sentence edit see section history

Of all the kids in the seventh grade at Camillo Junior High, there was one kid that Mrs. Baker hated with heat whiter than the sun.

Series & Lists edit see section history

This book is in Newbery Honor Roll. (community list)

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

  1. Gary D. Schmidt (Author)

First Edition edit see section history

Original Language: English
Publisher: Clarion Books
Country: USA
Publication Date: 2007
ISBN: 0618724834
Page Count: 272

Notes for Parents edit see section history

Reading Level: Young Adults

Not all "young adult" books are appropriate for young adults, but this book is. I would highly recommend this story to any young adult 12 or older, great clean story.

More Books Like This edit see section history

   
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