Title: The Wednesday WarsAuthor: Gary D. Schmidt
It's been kind of a Gary Schmidt fest around here. All of the students in our Young Adult class were required to read a Schmidt novel. Then he visited our class last week and we had the chance to ask him questions, and then I had the chance to introduce him at a lecture he gave at BYU, and following the lecture my professor invited me to have lunch with him (which was SO cool, how often do you get to have lunch with a Newbery Award winner?). After that, I was on such a Schmidt kick that I decided to go ahead and read The Wednesday Wars.
The Wednesday Wars is the story of Holling Hoodhood, a seventh-grader living in Long Island who knows that his English teacher hates him. This knowledge is reinforced every Wednesday when half the class goes to CCD at the Catholic church down the street and the other half goes to Hebrew school, leaving Holling alone with Mrs. Baker, who makes him read Shakespeare. Over the course of the year, Holling discovers that Shakespeare doesn't have to be a punishment, that a teacher doesn't have to be an enemy, and that growing up can be complicated.
I loved The Wednesday Wars and think that Bryce would love it too. It has a perfect combination of humor, things to think about and preteen hijinks to keep even a reluctant fifth or eighth grader reading. My only criticism is that Holling's parents seem particularly absent, even though they both exist in the story. While I can see that having them portrayed as unsympathetic allows for more conflict within the story, it doesn't feel like an accurate portrayal of parenthood. Maybe I was just lucky to have really great parents.
5 comments:
I adored this book.
Try Lizzie Bright too...equally good.
I meant to add...did the author mention if he planned on writing any adult fiction? Or has he?
He's written lots of academic non-fiction. We didn't ask him if he's ever considered writing fiction for adults-- I know he originally started writing YA as a diversion from "boring" academic writing. He just finished a sequel to Wednesday Wars that will be out soon. I'm eager to get my hands on it!
Sequel???!!!
i don't know, his parents seemed ridiculously familiar and plausible to me. jerk for a dad, crappy marriage, mom who stands by and lets the dad get away with stuff. that's how my parents were, and i couldn't have been alone in my experience. maybe that's why the story resonated for me. i didn't have quite the same school experience, but it was my teachers (school and church) who got me through my life.
i just finished both Lizzie Bright and WW. thanks for the rec!
Post a Comment