The Early Bird Gets the Bookworm: The Wednesday Wars

Schmidt,Gary D. 2007. The Wednesday Wars. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing. ISBN 9780547237602

(photo obtained from amazon.com)

Plot Summary

As the sole Presbyterian in a school full of Jewish and Catholic students, Holling Hoodhood’s Wednesday afternoons are relegated to Mrs. Baker’s classroom as the other students are separated for religious studies. Feeling a sense of infiltrated privacy, Holling’s main task while being with Mrs. Baker is reading Shakespeare. Holling has a nagging suspicion that Mrs. Baker hates him, thus signaling the beginning of the namesake “Wednesday Wars” while readers also follow as Holling navigates his seventh-grade year.

Analysis

The Wednesday Wars is hilarious. There were several instances where I was laughing aloud while reading in a public place or I had to stop and share passages with my family as they were too good to be kept secret (“Just before I sat down, I figured it out: She’d booby-trapped by desk.” Or “I asked Mr. Goldman if Ariel could wear armor instead of yellow tights.”). Even more importantly, Schmidt portrays well-developed characters who know the appropriate times to be funny but also when the content should be subdued.

Set in Long Island during the 1967-1968 school year, historical presence such as the Vietnam War, assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr and Robert Kennedy and baseball as America’s pastime find their way on to the pages of the Wednesday Wars in which each chapter is a new month. Dates and key players are accurate. Schmidt strengthens the 1960s presence by establishing lifestyle monikers characteristic of the era. Although the historical presence is there, details are glossed over and may be lost readers of the targeted audience who have no pre-existing frame of reference. The themes of the book which foster a connection towards education and life lessons (puppy love, bullies and foraging an identity) are rife. With that being said, Holling’s voice rings true of the era and environment created within the Wednesday Wars seems to ring true, even if the language falls into an overly sugary portrayal at times.

Review Excerpts

PUBLISHERS WEEKLY – “Johnstone's first-person narration perfectly captures Holling's progression from an angst-filled yet innocent boy, to a wiser, self-aware young man.”

BOOKLIST – “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.”

Awards, Mentions and/or Honors

2007 Winner - Publishers Weekly Best Children's Books
2007 Winner - Publishers Weekly Best Books of the Year

2008 Winner - American Library Association Notable Books for Children
2008 Nomination - Newbery Medal

2009 Nomination - Beehive Young Adults' Book Award
2009 Nomination - California Young Reader Medal
2009 Nomination - Wyoming Indian Paintbrush Book Award

2009 Nomination -Georgia Children's Book Award
2009 Nomination - Golden Sower Award

2009 Nomination - Volunteer State Book Award

2010 Nomination - Garden State Children's Book Awards
2010 Nomination -Rebecca Caudill Young Reader's Book Award
2011 Nomination - Nutmeg Children's Book Award
2011 Nomination - Maud Hart Lovelace Award

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