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The Wednesday Wars
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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 te ...more
Meet Holling Hoodhood, a seventh-grader at Camillo Junior High, who must spend Wednesday afternoons with his te ...more
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Hardcover, 264 pages
Published
May 21st 2007
by Clarion Books
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Audiobook rating: ★★★★★
Book rating: ★★★★★
Oh I am so going to miss you ‘let me tell you’ about your life to me, Holling!!
Written so convincingly youthful and full of hearts and humor.
Holling Hoodhood’s journey into seven grade is peppered with misadventures, extremely good luck, self discovery and even Shakespeare. So hilarious and sarcastic and really heartfelt.
► I listened to the audiobook an ...more
Book rating: ★★★★★
“J U S T S W E L L”
Oh I am so going to miss you ‘let me tell you’ about your life to me, Holling!!
“I never thought being in seven grade would mean so many death threats”
Written so convincingly youthful and full of hearts and humor.
Holling Hoodhood’s journey into seven grade is peppered with misadventures, extremely good luck, self discovery and even Shakespeare. So hilarious and sarcastic and really heartfelt.
► I listened to the audiobook an ...more

Holling Hoodhood’s got a problem. It’s 1967, and he’s just started seventh grade at Camillo Junior High, and his teacher, Mrs. Baker, hates his guts. Every Wednesday afternoon, half of the kids in Holling’s class go to Hebrew school and the other half go to St. Adelbert’s for catechism. And Holling, as the only Presbyterian in the class, stays behind with Mrs. Baker.
And Mrs. Baker makes him read Shakespeare. Outside of class.
What follows is a year in Holling’s life, a year of Wednesdays with Mrs ...more
And Mrs. Baker makes him read Shakespeare. Outside of class.
What follows is a year in Holling’s life, a year of Wednesdays with Mrs ...more

this is my second book for the readventurer challenge.
this book is very...sweet. and ordinarily, a sweet book would make me feel like i had chiggers or something else foul crawling under my skin, and its earnest gee-whizzery would make me feel unclean just because of my mental rolodex of words that are more satisfying to say in moments of astonishment or crisis than "gee whiz."
but this one was different. this one was entirely wholesome, yeah, but wholesome and satisfying like fresh-baked bread, ...more
this book is very...sweet. and ordinarily, a sweet book would make me feel like i had chiggers or something else foul crawling under my skin, and its earnest gee-whizzery would make me feel unclean just because of my mental rolodex of words that are more satisfying to say in moments of astonishment or crisis than "gee whiz."
but this one was different. this one was entirely wholesome, yeah, but wholesome and satisfying like fresh-baked bread, ...more

A Review in Two Parts
Part One
Ariel, recommended this book to me, and she wrote a fine good review of the book. You can find it by clicking on her name.
I really liked the book, but didn't love it. I think the things I didn't love about the book were me being a crank. For example, the myopic narrator view point of a seventh grader was great; it caught the distortions that a kid sees the world through and the way teachers and others outside of their own circle are depersonalized into roles instea ...more
Part One
Ariel, recommended this book to me, and she wrote a fine good review of the book. You can find it by clicking on her name.
I really liked the book, but didn't love it. I think the things I didn't love about the book were me being a crank. For example, the myopic narrator view point of a seventh grader was great; it caught the distortions that a kid sees the world through and the way teachers and others outside of their own circle are depersonalized into roles instea ...more

There’s something very pleasant about kids’ books written in the ’60s. They have an assurance that books written in later, more apologetic and hesitant decades lack. They’re usually untroubled by the social upheaval all around them. Hippies may show up here or there, but the books are more likely to be about time travel, or inventions, or mysteries.
This is one of the things you can only learn from consuming texts from that era: that people who lived in the ’60s didn’t know they were living in th ...more
This is one of the things you can only learn from consuming texts from that era: that people who lived in the ’60s didn’t know they were living in th ...more

Aug 25, 2011
Catie
rated it
really liked it
·
review of another edition
Recommended to Catie by:
Flannery
This book is a heartwarming mix of nostalgia, life lessons, beauty, and awkward humor with a nice side of brown…light…perfect cream puffs. And let me tell you; it’s really swell.
Holling Hoodhood is the only kid in the seventh grade who doesn’t have to attend either Temple or Catechism on Wednesday afternoons. No, instead he gets to spend every single Wednesday afternoon with Mrs. Baker, who hates his guts. Each Wednesday she finds new ways to torture him: endless cleaning of chalkboard erasers, ...more
Holling Hoodhood is the only kid in the seventh grade who doesn’t have to attend either Temple or Catechism on Wednesday afternoons. No, instead he gets to spend every single Wednesday afternoon with Mrs. Baker, who hates his guts. Each Wednesday she finds new ways to torture him: endless cleaning of chalkboard erasers, ...more

"The quality of mercy is not strained."
Oh gosh. I loved this book. An enjoyable middle-school historical novel set in Long Island in 1967 during the Vietnam Wars. I haven't read a lot of those and I'm very glad I came across this one. Not only does this one has plenty of LOL moments, it's also the kind of book that'll genuinely make you smile and even make you want to ponder about life. We need more books like this. The cover alone already makes me feel all sorts of warm and light. The rats de ...more
Oh gosh. I loved this book. An enjoyable middle-school historical novel set in Long Island in 1967 during the Vietnam Wars. I haven't read a lot of those and I'm very glad I came across this one. Not only does this one has plenty of LOL moments, it's also the kind of book that'll genuinely make you smile and even make you want to ponder about life. We need more books like this. The cover alone already makes me feel all sorts of warm and light. The rats de ...more

At first I thought this book was too young for me. The protagonist is a 7th grader, an age I am far past. It was a bit slow at first and my initial conclusion was: This would be great book for a middle school boy, especially one you want to get interested in Shakespeare, but not so great for the general reader.
And then I kept reading and realized that this was a brilliant, touching and funny book. Schmidt is excellent at making believable, nuanced characters--not something I often see at books a ...more
And then I kept reading and realized that this was a brilliant, touching and funny book. Schmidt is excellent at making believable, nuanced characters--not something I often see at books a ...more

If a junior high aged boy is part of your household, give him this book. He'll love it, and it will do him good. And if you happen to have been in junior high during the year 1968, this book can serve as a reminder of life (and national politics) at that time. In case you don't remember, 1968 is the year that both Martin Luther King and Robert F. Kennedy were assassinated.
People today worry about the polarization of American politics. Back in the late 60s things were more polarized, and in a muc ...more
People today worry about the polarization of American politics. Back in the late 60s things were more polarized, and in a muc ...more

One of the best books I've ever read. Absolutely brilliant. A nailed-on classic.
Mr. Schmidt, take a bow.
(And thank you.) ...more
Mr. Schmidt, take a bow.
(And thank you.) ...more

I think I have come to understand what it takes for a book to be awarded Newbery. It seems these Newberry awarded books are just so wholesome, so full of great life lessons, so sweet and touching in a non-nauseating or preachy way. The Wednesday Wars is just like that.
13-year old Holling Hoodhood is in trouble. While his Jewish and Catholic classmates attend religious studies on Wednesday afternoons, he, the only Presbyterian in his class, is forced to spend this time with his English teacher Mr ...more
13-year old Holling Hoodhood is in trouble. While his Jewish and Catholic classmates attend religious studies on Wednesday afternoons, he, the only Presbyterian in his class, is forced to spend this time with his English teacher Mr ...more

So good! This book covers middle school drama with humor and wit, with the somber Vietnam War as a backdrop. If you like Konigsburg, you'll love The Wednesday Wars.
...more

This book is written like a monthly diary of a seventh grade boy named Holling Hoodhood. It's supposed to be realistic fiction set in 1967, but the events are about as believable as his name. I didn't like it. Here's why.
Everybody around Holling is completely insensitive and cold-hearted, including his father, his mother, his sister, his teacher Mrs. Baker, the school principal, his friends and classmates, Doug Sweiteck's brother, and Micky Mantle. Holling is a complete victim of circumstance. H ...more
Everybody around Holling is completely insensitive and cold-hearted, including his father, his mother, his sister, his teacher Mrs. Baker, the school principal, his friends and classmates, Doug Sweiteck's brother, and Micky Mantle. Holling is a complete victim of circumstance. H ...more

If I had the option to give 6 stars to The Wednesday Wars, I'd do it. I giggled out loud at least 30 times on the bus *and* the train, earning myself a certain public transit notoriety as That Annoying Lady With The Book. And most people didn't even notice me getting teary during the poignant parts. Of course I'd heard glowing reviews of this book, but I didn't love Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy, so I was skeptical. But no longer. Gary Schmidt, please write more!
It's 1967-68, and Hollin ...more
It's 1967-68, and Hollin ...more

Oh it's the season to read the books we adults want children to read, and in actual fact they have no interest in doing so. Wednesday Wars sadly falls into that catagory.
It's 1968, and Holling Hoodhood is stuck with his teacher every Wednesday afternoon when the rest of his class attends religious education classes that their respective places of worship.
Holling learns to love Shakespeare, and how to run a good race, and he learns to understand his teacher, Mrs. Baker, and to love his older si ...more
It's 1968, and Holling Hoodhood is stuck with his teacher every Wednesday afternoon when the rest of his class attends religious education classes that their respective places of worship.
Holling learns to love Shakespeare, and how to run a good race, and he learns to understand his teacher, Mrs. Baker, and to love his older si ...more

This middle grade book took place in 1967 during the Vietnam War. I enjoy books that take place during a historical time. The Wednesday Wars deals with school, family, fathers, teachers and friends. While I enjoyed some of the laugh out loud moments of this book. I love how the main character was reading shakespeare. I felt like the writing of this book was not my style. I had a hard time staying focus. Overall it was okay.

Jan 26, 2008
Donalyn
rated it
it was amazing
Recommends it for:
deep thinkers
Shelves:
children-s-historical-fiction
One of the best books I have read in a long time. I felt my self reading slower in an attempt to never get to the end.
Mrs. Baker is one of the greatest teacher characters I have met.
Mrs. Baker is one of the greatest teacher characters I have met.

I love this book. Love, love, love, love, love, love. Love.
First, it takes place on Long Island, which I didn't even know when I ordered it for the library. So, sure I got an extra chuckle out of Schmidt's description of LI in November than the reader from, say, Nebraska will. But still, this is just an adorable story and you don't have to be stuck on the Long Island Expressway to enoy it. It reminds me of Richard Peck, if Richard Peck wrote about 1960's surburban life and not 1930's Illinois. ...more
First, it takes place on Long Island, which I didn't even know when I ordered it for the library. So, sure I got an extra chuckle out of Schmidt's description of LI in November than the reader from, say, Nebraska will. But still, this is just an adorable story and you don't have to be stuck on the Long Island Expressway to enoy it. It reminds me of Richard Peck, if Richard Peck wrote about 1960's surburban life and not 1930's Illinois. ...more

Feb 16, 2013
Robin Lee Hatcher
rated it
it was amazing
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
audiobooks,
challenge-2019
I first read The Wednesday Wars in 2011, and I have never forgotten it (especially the yellow tights and the story that surrounds them). Recently I bought the audiobook so I could read it again. Glad I did. It was just as much a delight the second time through. Toward the end of the book, I drove to a wedding, an hour drive each way along a winding mountain road. I laughed out loud numerous times, and the drive seemed to fly by.
The Wednesday Wars is set during the school year of 1967-1968. The ...more
The Wednesday Wars is set during the school year of 1967-1968. The ...more

It oozes charm. In the first half of the book, Schmidt really had me. I absolutely loved everything surrounding the incident with the creampuffs and its aftermath. While the charm remained, the second half lacked a bit of direction. It didn't quite stall, but the plot is a very slender reed here. And outside of Holling and Mrs. Baker, the characters are all pretty thin.
There's also a fairly horrifying aspect here. During this book, Holling does the following: Appears as Ariel in a local performa ...more
There's also a fairly horrifying aspect here. During this book, Holling does the following: Appears as Ariel in a local performa ...more

Without too much effort, you could probably come up with a dozen or so books of the Teacher-Who's-Totally-Mean-At-First-Develops-A-Mentoring-Relationship-With-The-Student-And-There-Are-Some-Life-Lessons-And-A-Bunch-Of-Growing-Up-Happens Genre, but dollars to doughnuts, none would be quite as good or as fun to read as Wednesday Wars. Toads, beetles, bats, I loved it--as the Bard might say. This one could probably work as young as fourth grade.
...more

I loved it. This is me GUSHING! Set in 1967 during the Vietnam War, it captured all the complex, nostalgic feelings of middle school. It was tender and full of humor, but also handled the deeper issues of the time period with care. It explored friendships, crushes, sibling relationships, embarrassment, bullies and more. I loved so many things about this book, but the best part was the relationship between inspirational-teacher Mrs. Baker and Holling.
I would recommend it for any adult and the ol ...more
I would recommend it for any adult and the ol ...more

Dec 31, 2009
Lisa
rated it
it was amazing
Recommended to Lisa by:
Doug
Shelves:
fiction,
young-adult
I learned two new ways to cuss this month. First, my sister Aimee told me that in the Fantastic Mr. Fox movie instead of cussing they say, "What the cuss!" Love it! Next, Holling Hoodhood the 7th grade narrator of this delightful book learns all about the best kind of cussing by reading, Shakespeare's "The Tempest." He says,"Caliban-the monster in the play-he knew cuss words. Even Doug Swieteck's brother couldn't cuss like that-and he could cuss the yellow off a school bus." There are great scen
...more

Another reviewer mentioned that this book shows that it was written by a Baby Boomer, and I had the exact same thought while reading. My parents were exactly the age of the protagonist in 1968, and while they remember where they were when they heard MKL Jr had been assassinated, the stories they tell about junior high are all about normal life, not what Walter Cronkite was saying about the Viet Cong on the evening news. I mean, I bet American history teachers everywhere are assigning this to the
...more

Aug 22, 2015
Amber
rated it
it was amazing
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
librarybooks,
audiobooks
In the year of 1967, Holling HoodHood is entering the seventh grade and notices that his English teacher Mrs. Baker hates him. She tries her best to make his life miserable, but with his Dad's Architect firm HoodHood and Associates vying to get the contract for her family's Sporting goods store, all Holling can do is grin and bear it even when she tortures him with Shakespeare. Will he survive? Read on and find out for yourself.
This was a pretty good audiobook that I borrowed from my local libra ...more
This was a pretty good audiobook that I borrowed from my local libra ...more

2018 Update: Read it out loud with the family. The walls echo with cries of "Toads, beetles, bats" and "Dang wimpy slugs!" Delightful.
The title, and the list of 410 things, set me up to expect a battle of pranks. Instead, this funny book reaches deeper, as Holling serendipitously finds himself in various bad and good (and always awkward) situations, and applies Shakespeare to solve them. Maybe someone needs to make his parents read Shakespeare, too. Amusing and touching, I really enjoyed this. ...more
The title, and the list of 410 things, set me up to expect a battle of pranks. Instead, this funny book reaches deeper, as Holling serendipitously finds himself in various bad and good (and always awkward) situations, and applies Shakespeare to solve them. Maybe someone needs to make his parents read Shakespeare, too. Amusing and touching, I really enjoyed this. ...more

Jul 05, 2012
Heidi
rated it
it was amazing
·
review of another edition
Recommended to Heidi by:
Flannery
When someone who tends to make good recommendations to you tells you several times that you will probably love something–listen. I finally picked up Gary D. Schmidt and The Wednesday Wars on audio, and I adored it. From first sentence to last, this book was so full and rich and true in every way. I laughed in a way I haven’t laughed listening to audio in well over a year, and I cried. I cried because it was too touching and real and perfect not to.
Never before have I read a book that more exempl ...more
Never before have I read a book that more exempl ...more

Really charming. It was the same kind of nostalgic book as Penny From Heaven, but better-written, funnier, and more real-feeling. (This one has its obvious parallel in a really good episode of The Wonder Years.) This reminded me of older books about boys coming of age, like It's Like This, Cat and Onion John; but I think the language is wholly modern and accessible. I thought it was so much better--tighter, I guess--than Trouble.
Also, a question: looking at the other reviews, and thinking of rev ...more
Also, a question: looking at the other reviews, and thinking of rev ...more

This is a beautiful book, so I reviewed it for our librarian blog at work.
Holling Hoodhood has many things on his mind. The U.S. is at war with Vietnam. His older sister has painted a flower on her face. His father is trying to run the town’s other architect out of business. And Holling’s teacher, Mrs. Baker, hates his guts. You see, every Wednesday after lunch, half of the kids in Holling’s 7th grade class go to the Temple Beth-El for Hebrew School. The other half goes to St. Adelbert’s for Cat ...more
Holling Hoodhood has many things on his mind. The U.S. is at war with Vietnam. His older sister has painted a flower on her face. His father is trying to run the town’s other architect out of business. And Holling’s teacher, Mrs. Baker, hates his guts. You see, every Wednesday after lunch, half of the kids in Holling’s 7th grade class go to the Temple Beth-El for Hebrew School. The other half goes to St. Adelbert’s for Cat ...more

When a teacher makes you read Shakespeare outside of school, you know she hates you. Throw in some cream puffs and a couple of demented rats, and, well, you have the beginning of a very interesting school year. Plus there’s a war going on that is making things rather complicated. So Holling Hoodhood isn’t exactly looking forward to the upcoming year.
The Wednesday Wars is a highly amusing coming-of-age story that manages to teach some good lessens in between the laughs. I found it really interes ...more
The Wednesday Wars is a highly amusing coming-of-age story that manages to teach some good lessens in between the laughs. I found it really interes ...more
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Gary D. Schmidt is an American children's writer of nonfiction books and young adult novels, including two Newbery Honor books. He lives on a farm in Alto, Michigan,with his wife and six children, where he splits wood, plants gardens, writes, feeds the wild cats that drop by and wishes that sometimes the sea breeze came that far inland. He is a Professor of English at Calvin College.
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