The Wednesday Wars: A Newbery Honor Award Winner
In this Newbery Honor-winning novel, Gary D. Schmidt offers an unforgettable antihero. The Wednesday Wars is a wonderfully witty and compelling story about a teenage boy's mishaps and adventures over the course of the 1967-68 school year in Long Island, New York. Meet Holling Hoodhood, a seventh-grader at Camillo Junior High, who must spend Wednesday afternoons with his teacher, Mrs. Baker, while the rest of the class has religious instruction. Mrs. Baker doesn't like Holling-he's sure of it. Why else would she make him read the plays of William Shakespeare outside class? But everyone has bigger things to worry about, like Vietnam. His father wants Holling and his sister to be on their best behavior: the success of his business depends on it. But how can Holling stay out of trouble when he has so much to contend with? A bully demanding cream puffs; angry rats; and a baseball hero signing autographs the very same night Holling has to appear in a play in yellow tights! As fate sneaks up on him again and again, Holling finds Motivation-the Big M-in the most unexpected places and musters up the courage to embrace his destiny, in spite of himself.
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Community Reviews
I loved this book. It is marketed as a children's book and it won a much deserved Newbery Honor. It is from a 7th grade boy's perspective during 1967-1968 (Vietnam War and the assassinations) while learning Shakespeare. It has so many little tidbits to think about. Tidbits like:
"But perfect or not, it was hard living in between."
"We read The Merchant of Venice the next Wednesday, too, and finished it on the last Wednesday of October. After we closed our books, Mrs. Baker asked me to discuss the character of Shylock. “He isn’t really a villain,” I said, “is he?” “No,” said Mrs. Baker, “he isn’t.” “He’s more like someone who wants...” “Who wants what, Mr. Hoodhood?” “Someone who wants to become who he’s supposed to be,” I said. Mrs. Baker considered that. “And why couldn’t he?” she asked. “Because they wouldn’t let him. They decided he had to be a certain way, and he was trapped. He couldn’t be anything except for what he was,” I said. “And that is why the play is called a tragedy,” said Mrs. Baker."
"At the happy ending of The Tempest, Prospero brings the king back together with his son, and finds Miranda’s true love, and punishes the bad duke, and frees Ariel, and becomes a duke himself again. Everyone—except for Caliban—is happy, and everyone is forgiven, and everyone is fine, and they all sail away on calm seas. Happy endings. That’s how it is in Shakespeare. But Shakespeare was wrong. Sometimes there isn’t a Prospero to make everything fine again. And sometimes the quality of mercy is strained."
“Shakespeare did not write for your ease of reading,” she said. No kidding, I thought. “He wrote to express something about what it means to be a human being in words more beautiful than had ever yet been written.”Mrs. Baker looked at me for a long moment. Then she went and sat back down at her desk. “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.”
"But perfect or not, it was hard living in between."
"We read The Merchant of Venice the next Wednesday, too, and finished it on the last Wednesday of October. After we closed our books, Mrs. Baker asked me to discuss the character of Shylock. “He isn’t really a villain,” I said, “is he?” “No,” said Mrs. Baker, “he isn’t.” “He’s more like someone who wants...” “Who wants what, Mr. Hoodhood?” “Someone who wants to become who he’s supposed to be,” I said. Mrs. Baker considered that. “And why couldn’t he?” she asked. “Because they wouldn’t let him. They decided he had to be a certain way, and he was trapped. He couldn’t be anything except for what he was,” I said. “And that is why the play is called a tragedy,” said Mrs. Baker."
"At the happy ending of The Tempest, Prospero brings the king back together with his son, and finds Miranda’s true love, and punishes the bad duke, and frees Ariel, and becomes a duke himself again. Everyone—except for Caliban—is happy, and everyone is forgiven, and everyone is fine, and they all sail away on calm seas. Happy endings. That’s how it is in Shakespeare. But Shakespeare was wrong. Sometimes there isn’t a Prospero to make everything fine again. And sometimes the quality of mercy is strained."
“Shakespeare did not write for your ease of reading,” she said. No kidding, I thought. “He wrote to express something about what it means to be a human being in words more beautiful than had ever yet been written.”Mrs. Baker looked at me for a long moment. Then she went and sat back down at her desk. “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.”
I read The Wednesday Wars with my thirteen year old son to enhance our study of the Vietnam War. We really enjoyed it. This was one of the more witty and intelligent middle grade books I've read, while also being very funny. Great characters who seem real and easy to identify with.
#popsugarreadingchallenge2019 (advanced prompt #46)
#popsugarreadingchallenge2019 (advanced prompt #46)
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